Destiny is a Fickle Mistress
by Commardbattl
Summary: Grimmel had a much better reason for killing Nightfurys than the one we got in the movie. A tragic past is revealed to Hiccup and the other Berkians. Meanwhile, Berserk has been annihilated. With seemingly no allies left, what decision will the new chief of Berk make in order to save not only their dragons, but the entirety of Berk itself. Slight AU. M for blood/lemons
1. Prologue

**Hello Everyone,**

**This is just a quick prologue for my story in order to set the stage for things that will happen later.**

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Deep in the heart of the earth, between Midgard and Helheim, at the edge of a waterfall, lay a hidden world.

Inside of this hidden world were dragons of all shapes, sizes, and colors.

Further along in this hidden world was a temple in a forest, surrounded by miles of open grass fields, with a giant river cutting through it

How could trees and plants grow underground you ask?

Well that is due to the refraction of sunlight from the water above.

Although the land is under water, there was a translucent layer of dragon scales that kept the outside world from seeing into the Hidden World.

These scales let sunlight in from the water above, allowing plants to grow and thrive in this secret location.

Inside of the large temple was giant room that looked like it hadn't been entered in centuries.

Inside said room were what looked like two sacrificial tables with a giant torch bowl between them.

On the wall above the tables, was a giant stone slab that had a large inscription on it, detailing a prophecy.

_Black and White, Yin and Yang. _

_Two lives will come together in more way than one. _

_Together they will achieve peace, alone they will fail._

_They must face their fears and experience true pain in order to achieve the true power of the dragons_.

This was not the only thing the tablet mentioned, but the only script legible to the dragons who lived in the Hidden World.

Although the dragons of the Hidden World knew that peace was possible, they would not dare to venture beyond the safety of their home.

Hoping that one day their savior (or saviors) would come to them.

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**This is just a quick little update to hold everyone over until later this month. You should expect the next chapter to be out around April 15th. As always, fave, follow, and review. Until next time, Commard out**


	2. Chapter 1

**Hello Everyone,**

**I have always been obsessed with the HTTYD universe ever since the first movie came out.**

**After seeing the Hidden World, I found that Grimmel is an interesting villain but had so much wasted potential. He is almost a reverse Hiccup **

**and this idea could have been fleshed out so much more than it was. Oh well, it was a wasted opportunity I decided to write this story and **

**became so driven that I finished the first chapter in three days. Now this story will be kind of an AU to hidden world but the AU will be fleshed **

**out through flashbacks in order to have parts of the plot make more sense.**

**I hope everyone enjoys it. Let's get started**

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"Human Speech"

_"Human Thoughts"_

**"Dragon Speech"**

_**"Dragon Thoughts"**_

_Narration_

**I do not own How to Train Your Dragon. If I did, the ending might have been different  
**

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**Chapter 1**

_20 Years Ago, East of the Viking Archapelago_

Grimmel Jeger was a man of many talents. Intelligent, cunning and who could forget charisma, he had it all. He was currently hunting a Nightfury, the most dangerous dragon known to man. After receiving a tip from a colleague, the 33-year-old man took off with his trusted Deathgrippers, dragons that he had acquired nearly 10 years ago from one Viggo Grimborn.

Grimmel knew that to hunt Nightfuries he would need exceptional dragons and Deathgrippers were all of that and more. Arguably the second smartest dragon after the Nightfury, each of them had a large tail with a protruding stinger, similar to those scorpions he had read about that inhabit the southern portion of the world. Grimmel had found out that their venom could be used as a paralyzing agent for even the most ferocious dragons. On top of that, these creatures had acid that could melt through many a thing. All in all, the perfect companion for a Dragon Hunter.

Grimmel sat on the back of one of his Deathgrippers as the crawled softly through the forest floor in search of tracks. Noticing one of his dragons had stopped and was sniffing at the ground. Grimmel hopped of his steed and saw what his companion was smelling. Several scales, black as the night, were nestled on the ground, the scales of a Nightfury. This was not the first Nightfury Grimmel had the pleasure of meeting (and hopefully killing), in fact it would be his third.

The first came when he was just a young boy of 14. Grimmel had been an outcast in his village, weak, skinny, a fishbone is what the other villagers described him as. He was bullied constantly as a child and searched for a way to bring honor to his name. Not only that but his father, the chief of his village always looked at him with disgust. Grimmel had always tried his hardest to help the village and prove his worth to his father. However, it was never enough Then one night when out for a walk in the woods he stumbled upon a sleeping Nightfury. It was then a smile formed on the young lad's lips and an idea formed in his brain. Sneaking up to the unconscious dragon, the young man dug deep and slit the beast's throat with a small sword. Carrying the beheaded head of a Nightfury back to his village, the lad was deemed a hero and was finally given the respect and honor he thought he deserved by both his village and more importantly his father.

Using the hide of the Nightyfury he had killed, Grimmel fashioned his own armor giving him a sleek black look. nearly ten years after that Grimmel killed his second Nightfury with the aid of his Deathgrippers, the 25-year-old took down the ferocious dragon in pure combat and made another Nightfury-hide suit. This one as a gift for his bride to be.

Yes, Grimmel had met a beautiful woman that he intended to marry and the offering of the dragon-hide armor was enough for the bride price. The duo married happily and had their first child nearly two years ago. A boy, which the couple named Hersker, meaning ruler in their native tongue.

Grimmel was torn from his reminiscing by one of his dragons breathing in his face to wake him up. "We're close. Better be light-footed" he said softly to his dragons. The Deathgrippers nodded and followed their leader through the underbrush until they came to an opening in the forest which revealed more a cave. Looking down at the forest floor, Grimmel noticed more scales that seemed to head to the cave.

"Looks like we've come to. the right place boys.". he said crouching to the ground. The man pulled some blades of grass out of the earth and tossed them in the air. The wind carried them back to where they came from, meaning that the beast inside the cave wouldn't be able to smell them coming before it was too late.

"Alright you two are going to go to the back of the cave and melt through the wall when I give the signal." Grimel ordered his two younger Deathgrippers. The smaller dragons nodded in understanding before taking off silently and gliding over the mountain. "It's just you and me Glupsk" he told the eldest of he three hunting companions. Grimmel went to his knees and prayed to the gods for the success of his hunt.

"Odin, Thor, watch over our group so that I may bring honor to my family and slay these devilish beasts." the man whispered. Taking out a locket he wore around his chest, (one he had created himself) Grimmel kissed it twice, once for each person he loved. Putting the trinket back underneath his armor the man silent crawled his way towards the cave entrance. Taking out his spyglass, Grimmel saw the blue eyes of a Nightfury deep within the cave. However they weren't looking at him but rather down at something else.

"_That's strange. From my experience with the last one, they are much more alert than that."_ he thought, inching closer towards the cave. Grimmel was about to remove the crossbow from his back when he noticed a small white head pop upp from beneath the beast's chest. "A white Nightfury and a baby at that, how interesting. I can make an additional set of armor to sell with that beauty." he chuckled to himself. Grimmel inched forward but his leg landed on a twig, causing the fragile piece of wood to snap. "Yak's shit" he whispered, as the Nightfury's eyes turned to him and widened. The dragon took a threatening pose and growled.

**Nightfury's Point of View.**

Shadow-Wing was extremely content with his life. At long last he had found a lovely mate in Dawn-Singer and she had laid her first egg from which a girl was born. The mates decided to call their daughter Luna because her eyes were as beautiful as the moon's light. Shadow-Wing felt the small child awaken and let out a big yawn. "**_Good timing. Dawn-Singer should be back any moment with food_**." he thought.

It was a beautiful night, the stars twinkled brightly in the sky. A small breeze could be felt, perfect for a late-night flight. Luna finished her yawn and looked up expectantly at her father "**fo-food**?" the baby dragon said, testing the word with a yip. Shadow-Wing let out a deep chuckle, although humans assumed dragons were stupid beasts the animals did have their own form of language. A language his daughter was just starting to learn.

"**Don't worry little one**." he whispered, nudging the small dragon with his snout. "**Your mother will be back soon**". Although Shadow-Wing was a male, he was not the Alpha of the neighboring dragons, that honor was his mate's. It was very rare for a female to be an Alpha but Dawn-Singer was one of a kind and he was lucky to be her mate. Luna snuggled closely into her father's chest, causing the male to let out a gummy chuckle. He couldn't wait to introduce his daughter to his nest brother.

It had been nearly two years since they left each other, with the goal to find mates and meet up in an island off the coast. Suddenly the sound of a branch snapping brought his attention to the area outside of their cave. It was then Shadow-Wing saw a human and a Deathgripper stalking their home. Shadow-Wing let out a loud roar, hoping that it would scare them off. However, when it didn't work the father became serious. "**Luna stay here**." he ordered, before charging at the man and Dragon.

**Neutral View**

Grimmel took a step forward and pulled his crossbow off of his back and fired, but missed. Glupsk took action and attacked as well, shooting his tail forward and attempted to strike the other dragon. The Nightfury dodged the first strike and fired a plasma Blast, hitting the Deathgripper in the chest. Grimmel let out a loud whistle as he dodged another blast from the charging Nightfury. Said Nightfury stopped charging as he heard his daughter yelp in pain. Turning his head, Shadow-Wing saw his daughter pinned to the ground by the two more Deathgrippers, their stingers hovering over her tiny throat.

"**Get off of her**" the black dragon growled at the others. Suddenly he heard the human begin to talk

"Now Nightfury you must choose, yourself or your offspring.". Shadow-Wing looked at his daughter, then the human. He did this again and came to decision.

"**_I'm sorry my love_**" the dragon thought before giving himself up. Grimmel took another shot, hitting the Nightfury in the side and causing him to let out another roar.

"Perfect, now to get rid of the baby." Grimmel ordered his dragons.

Shadow-Wing gasped, "**You promised**." he pleaded, trying desperately to move in order to save his child's life. However, the dragon found his body unresponsive.

"Stupid beast." Grimmel spat towards Shadow-Wing, "Do it". The Deathgrippers were about to plunge their tails through Luna's skull when both were hit by a plasma blast. "WHAT?" Grimmel yelled, only for it to be lost by a loud whistling and a white figure to land on the ground next to the small dragon. The figure was white Nightfury, its color as pure as snow.

"**Get away from my mate Human**." it roared, scaring Glupsk who could feel the Alpha's pull.

"**Fly away Dawn-Singer, take our Luna and escape.**" pleaded Shadow-Wing, slowly losing consciousness.

Grimmel snapped out of the slight trance he was in. "Is this your mate?" he rhetorically asked the downed Nightfury. "Let's take her down too." he laughed, snapping his fingers. Glupsk and the other two Deathgrippers sprang up and started attacking the new arrival.

Dawn-Singer spun and knock one of the attackers aside with her tail and fired a plasma blast. Grimmel kept firing bolts but the white dragon was to fast. Then he saw that the female had grabbed a hold of the baby dragon and started to take off.

"NO." he yelled. Glupsk saw what his friend was referring to and fired some acid at the retreating mother only for it to be met by a Plasma Blast from Shadow-Wing. This allowed the mother dragon to soar through the sky. Grimmel knew that there was no way his group could catch up to a Nightfury in full flight so he decided to cut his losses. "Now then dragon and last acts?" he asked Shadow-Wing, positioning himself ready to slit the male's throat. All Shadow-Wing could do was pray, not that the human could hear him anyway.

"**Creator, please watch over my mate and our daughter, please…**" he was interrupted as Grimmel had enough and slit the poor dragon's throat.

"Well at least we got one, right boys?" he asked his companions. The Deathbringers each let out a roar of victory and helped their friend remove the hide from the now dead Nightfury. The process took nearly a half hour but eventually it got done and the hide was now safely stored in bags. Grimmel loaded the bags onto his companions and hopped onto Glupsk. "Now then let's head home. We have some people to surprise". With that the three Deathbringers soared into the air and made their way back towards the place Grimmel called home.

**Dawn-Singer 3 hours later**

The mother dragon was weeping. After all, why should she not. Her mate was just murdered in cold blood and the monster who did that was trying to kill their precious daughter too. "**No, I have to be strong for Luna, Shadow-Wing wouldn't want me to mourn**.". Now finished giving herself a pep-talk, the Lightfury looked down to see her child waking up. During the rescue Luna had been accidently hit by one of the human's darts. Luckily it seemed that they wear off after while. Dawn-Singer smelled the dart and immediately noticed the stench of that vile human on it. Then an idea came to her, "**_He nearly took everything from me. Now I will take everything from him_**". With that the mother let out a loud roar. A roar was a call for the help of dragons nearby to help her. It was the call of an Alpha.

**Two Days Later**

Grimmel and his trio of Deathbringers had just touched down in his village. Once there he ran into a few friends. "Welcome back Grimmel, was your hunt a success?" asked Tyrion the blacksmith.

"Yes my friend, we managed to back ourselves an adult male." the hunter replied. Reaching into one of the bags, Grimmel pulled out a sample of the hide he had gotten. Handing it to his friend to have a better look, the hunter chuckled at his friend's reaction as the blacksmith marveled over the specimen.

"Exquisite as always Chief" Tyrion applauded, "I take it you want the armor done by sundown?".

"Yes, my boy's birthday is soon and I want the present ready for him." the Chief responded.

With that Grimmel left the forge, eager to get home and wash the grime of his hunting drip off of his body. Along the way he did his daily rounds in the village such as making sure the food levels were high enough so that no-one would go hungry during the upcoming winter.

Making his way through the village, Grimmel made sure to say hello to all of the villagers. It was something his father had instilled into him as a child. What his late father told him was simple but yet it went so far. "Always look after your own, as they are all you have." he would tell him.

Grimmel let out a small laugh, reminiscing about his latter teen years. Everything truly had changed after he killed his first Nightfury and the young chief could not be more thankful for it. Grimmel made his way up to his home and fed his Deathgrippers before putting them in the house's stable.

"Grimmel is that you?" a voice asked from inside of the house.

A smile formed on the chief's face, "Yes love it's me." he responded. The back door to his house opened and Grimmel was immediately hit with the smell of his favorite stew. Suddenly he felt a huge weight crash into him and a hug tighten around his back.

"I missed you Grimmel." his wife Salva whispered.

"And I missed you my love." the chief responded back. "How is Hersker? Has he been a good boy?".

"Of course dear. He even started speaking a bit more." Salva answered, breaking the hug.

While his wife resumed tending to the stew, Grimmel went to his son's room. The small child was wide awake in his crib and was playing with a stuffed dragon. "How is my little man." Grimmel said scaring the small child, as the boy did not know that he was there.

"Dada look, dwagon" the boy exclaimed, waiving the small toy in the air and showing his father.

The chief chuckled and scooped up Hersker in his arms and held him close. "That's right my son, it is a dragon." the man laughed. Grimmel held his son for about half an hour before his wife called them over for dinner. The couple and their young child ate in happiness as laughter could be heard throughout the house.

After the meal Grimmel played with his son some more. The young chief could not wait for the boy to grow up so he could show his heir all the skills necessary to become a great and charismatic leader like himself. However eventually Hersker got tired and Grimmel had to put the young boy to bed. Heading back out into the living room he saw that Salva was creating a fire for the night.

"I have to stop by the blacksmith and main hall before we turn in for the night." he explained to his loving wife.

"I'm guessing your picking up his present. I saw you trying to hide that victory smile of yours when you got back." asked Salva.

"You know me too well dear." replied the chief before planting a kiss on Salva's cheek.

The chief left his house and made his way down to the main hall for the weekly meeting. The meetings were rather simple, take any complaints into consideration, solve any disagreements among the villagers, and last but not least, make sure everyone has a voice. After all, Grimmel did not want any villager to have the upbringing he had.

The meeting had ended and Tyrion had walked up to the chief. "Grimmel I have the suit made and ready for your son." the blacksmith informed the chief.

"Perfect can I pick it up now?" the chief asked his friend. Tyrion nodded in response and the duo made their way into the forge were a large bag was waiting for them.

"Here it is chief." Tyrion presented, taking the piece of clothing out and revealing it to Grimmel. The suit was about the size of an average Viking teenager. The black scales gleamed brilliantly in the light of the forge. All in all it was nearly identical to Grimmel's own except his was more faded due to age.

"It's wonderful Tyrion, how much do I owe yah?" the village leader asked his friend.

"Awh yah owe me nothin chief. Think of it is a gift to the villages next leader." the blacksmith responded.

"Are you sure?" Grimmel asked. The man didn't want to take advantage of his fellow villagers like this.

"Of course Grimmel. Also there is extra hide in the bag for when Hersker grows out of it." explained Tyrion.

"Woah, let's slow down. I don't want him growing up that fast" chuckled the chief.

"Of course not Grimmel. Now go on get out of here. You have to be tired from your trip." ordered the blacksmith. Grimmel nodded and said his goodbyes to his friend before putting the suit back into the back and heading off towards his house.

As he was heading up to the door, Grimmel noticed that Glupsk and the other Deathbringers were acting quite skittish. The chief went back to the stable but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. "Huh, no idea what that is about" he said to himself before heading inside.

Salva asked him to drop the present off and hurry to bed. After all, it had been nearly a week since Grimmel set out on his hunting trip and his wife wanted to spend some quality time with him. The chief quietly snuck into his son's room and noticed that his little boy was fast asleep. Grimmel set the bag down next to his son's crib and took out a locket identical to the one he wore around his neck. The chief made it for his son so that he would always be with the boy even after he died. The locket contained the symbol of their family and was something the father cherished. Placing the trinket into the bag with the armor, Grimmel leaned in and kissed the sleeping boy's forehead.

"You're going to be a great leader." he whispered. With that done Grimmel snuck out of the room and joined his wife in bed. The night was beautiful and nothing could be better for the chief.

**Later that Night**

Grimmel awoke to the sound of banging coming from his door. Getting up from his bed in a hurry and rushed to said door, opening it to reveal a horrible sight. A large portion of the village was in flames and Tyrion stood in front of him wide-eyed. "Chief dragons, they came out of nowhere and started burning houses." heaved the blacksmith.

Grimmel immediately rounded up his Deathbringers and was ready to jump into battle when Salva asked him to be careful. The chief halted his movement, taking in his wife's features. "Dear I want you to take our son and get out of here. Make sure you take the bag with you. The armor can protect him from any dangers" he ordered his wife.

Salva tried to argue against his wishes but was shot down by her husband. Taking their son and the armor bag with her, the woman sped off towards the forest with their sleeping child in her arms. Once Grimmel so them enter the woods he turned his attention towards the battle and flew forward with his Death Bringers.

His village was a flame and the voices of screeching dragons could be heard from above. "_Why are they doing this? Dragons never go out of there way to attack a village._" the chief wondered, taking down a Nadder and thrusting a blade through it's skull. The dragon let out it's dying breath and fire a shot at a nearby villager, incinerating them instantly.

"Grimmel we need to get in control of this situation before more people get killed." Tyrion roared out, killing a Monstrous Nightmare. The chief agreed but the dragons kept coming and started to kill more and more of his fellow villagers. One by one they continued to fall but eventually the dragons started to disperse. However, all that was left of the village population was around 20 people. The stench of death and charred flesh was pungent in nearly causing the village leader (or whatever was left of the village) to throw up.

Suddenly Grimmel heard a loud whistle through the air. "No, it can't be." he whispered right before a white Nightfury landed on the ground and fired a Plasma Blast, killing several more of his comrades.

"Go chief, find your wife and get her to safety." ordered Tyrion as he ducked behind a house to avoid a blast.

"But Tyrion…"

"NOW"

Grimmel was cut off. Taking his cue, the younger man and his Deathbringers took off and headed towards the forest. The Chief heard more and more screams of pain and death, causing him to send his dragons into a faster pace. Glupsk had caught on to Salva's scent and banked at a 45-degree angle before landing in the forest.

"Salva my love, are you there?" Grimmel called desperately, hoping for any sign that his wife was okay.

"Yes dear." the woman came running from out of some bushes from about 100 feet away. Salva got to her husband and embraced him.

"Where is Hersker?" the chief asked, worried for his son as well.

"He's just behind the bushes, as asleep as a lamb. Let me get him so we can get out of here." she replied, letting go of the hug.

Just as Salva was about to run back a loud whistle pierced the sky, causing Grimmel to pale. The white Nightfury landed between them and the bushes with a loud impact, shocking the woman, who fell on her butt.

"Glupsk we need you and the others to distract her so we can get Hersker?" the chief ordered.

The dragon nodded and was about to launch himself at the enemy but the female dragon let out an earsplitting roar. Suddenly Grimmel's Deathbringers whined and sat on their hunches.

"Glupsk what's going on, why are you not attacking her." Grimmel asked. When the dragons still didn't budge the Chief noticed that their eyes were glazed over and became horrified of what was going to happen.

"**Do you like that human? That is what the power of the Alpha can do**" roared Dawn-Singer.

Grimmel could not understand what the dragon was saying but immediately pulled Salva closer into his body as a response.

"**Oh is that your mate?**" asked the dragon with another roar before charging at the duo. Grimmel tried to take his sword out but the white Nightfury was too fast and knocked it away. "**Now you, hold him still**." ordered Dawn-Singer. Glumpsk tried to shake off the command but the Alpha's will was too much and the Deathbringer had no choice but to obey.

Grimmel screamed and pleaded but the dragon pinned the chief to the ground with his body. Salva tried to run away but Dawn-Singer jumped in front of her and knocked the chief's wife to the ground with her tail.

"No please leave her out of this." Grimmel pleaded desperately. The man tried to get up but the weight of his dragon prevented him.

"**You will have to watch your mate die in front of you just like I watched mine**." responded Dawn-Singer.

Salva looked at her husband with pleading eyes but the life faded from them as she was hit by two plasma blasts from the White Nightfury.

"NOOOOOO!" Grimmel screamed, thrashing around underneath Glumpsk's body.

Suddenly Dawn-Singer's ears perked up as a child's cry could be heard from the bushes.

"No please he's all I have left." the chief pleaded to the dragon. Dawn-Singer leaned over the bush to get a view of the child before looking back at the father.

"**Now you will know the same pain I felt when you killed my mate."** the she-dragon snorted.

Despite the pleas of the human, the dragon turned back towards the bushes and fired a final plasma blast, ending the crying child. The pain of losing his son was too much for the young chief, who immediately blacked out from the emotional drain. With that Dawn-Singer stepped through the bush and took off, leaving the three Deathbringers to care for their unconscious master.

**The Next Morning**

Grimmel shot up off the forest floor and looked around. He saw his wife lying still on the ground and rushed over to her side.

"Please Thor, this has to be some sick dream." he said, shaking his wide. He then found out that this was not a dream and was in fact, very real.

Running over to the bush where his son would have been located, the chief found there was nothing left. His son's body had been completely incinerated along with the bag that had contained the birthday gift. The Deathbringers cried alongside their companion and bowed their heads in respect.

"I can at least give them a proper funeral." Grimmel swallowed. The chief ordered his dragons to carry his wife's body with them. The group then. made their way back to the village (or what was left of it. No one had survived the battle against the alpha, leaving Grimmel to pick up the pieces lift.

Building a huge pyre in what was thee center of the village, the group of four hauled any remaining corpses into the structure. With a heavy heart and tears in his eyes, Grimmel lit the pyre and watched it burn.

Inside he held a burning hatred for the one who was responsible for taking not only his village but also his family away from him. His dream of a happy future was dead, gutted by the White Nightfury he had failed to kill.

Removing a knife from his hip he slashed his arm and dropped blood over the fire. "I swear to the gods above that I will not rest until every Nightfury is captured and killed by my hand." he roared out.

Once the fire died out, he decided that it was time to find this Drago Bloodfist that he had been hearing so much about so he could start his vengeance.

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**Wow talk about a wild first chapter. It is well documented that Nightfurys are very protective of their young. So it would not surprise me that **

**one would go to such lengths to get revenge for their mate's death. Especially one with Alpha capabilities. Also now Grimmel has a real reason **

**to hate Nightfurys, instead of the stereotypical reason we got in the movie. Next chaptter we will jump to the beginning of the third movie and **

**see what changes the new events may have caused. Spoilers: we won't see the first real divergence until chapter 5, maybe 6.**

**As Always, fave, follow, and review. Until next tim, Commard out.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hello Everyone, I'm back with another chapter of Destiny. The last update was making sure the story had a prologue that would be helpful for later in the story. I'm hoping that my writing style is clear enough so that the character's speech does not feel repetitive and the environment of the story is explained clearly. I want to make sure that my readers get the best of me, so I have to hold myself and my writing to a high standard. Now let's begin the next chapter.**

"Human Speech"

"_Human Thoughts"_

**"Dragon Speech"**

_**"Dragon Thoughts**_**"**

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It was a cool night in the Viking Archipelago. The moon was full but the sky was cloudy. A Viking vessel floated on the calm sea. The boat contained a large number of cages, each filled with several dragons. Yes, Dragon Trappers were still patrolling these waters a year after the defeat of Drago Bloodfist. The cries of these wounded and trapped dragons could be heard by those inside of the ship's cabin, causing one of the crew to wander outside holding a torch. "Enough yah beasts, be quiet." he growled, banging the torch against one of the cages. The dragon inside, a Crimson Goregutter, roared back but was silenced by the crew member.

While this was occurring a black figured descended from the sky onto the deck of the ship. The crew member was too distracted to notice the figure moving towards another cage. The figure was humanoid, dressed in black scaly armor with a facemask, the symbol of a red Nightfury emblazed on the right shoulder. The human took at what appeared to be a long rod which then lit up in flames. "Don't worry I'll get you out of there." he whispered to the cage's prisoners.

The dragons inside, 3 small Deadly Nadders merely nodded in understanding, hopping that they could escape this cruel confinement. Another figure dropped onto the deck next to the human. This figure was a dragon, a Nightfury to be exact.

The dragon had a prosthetic tail and followed the human figure up to the cage. The imprisoned dragons became spooked by the new presence.

"Hey bud can you give me a hand?" asked the human, not wanting to alert the crew.

The dragon let out a small warble causing a feeling of relaxation to wash over the captives, calming them down and keeping them quiet. Taking a deep breath, the human cut through the lock on the door. The dragons thanked him for his effort by spraying him with some thank-you fire.

"_It's a good thing I'm wearing this suit_" the figure thought, turning around to see the crew member they had been trying to avoid, looking straight at them. The human tried to approach the crew member but the residual fire the rescued dragons engulfed him as he walked forward.

"DEMON, DEMON" yelled the crew member, frozen in fear.

The armored figure panicked, afraid that their cover would be blown. "No, no, no, no, not demon, human" the figure pleaded, trying to convince the horrified crew member.

"You're a demon, you walked through fire." reasoned the crew member, walking back slowly.

"Dragonskin is very fireproof" said the figure, who then proceeded to take his helmet off, revealing the face of a rather handsome young man. This young man was Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Known as the Dragon Master to many and more affectionate names to those closer to him. However most importantly he was the Chief of the Isle Berk and those on it.

"You're a Demon. Only demons can ride these filthy beasts." the trapper tried to reasoned. Backing up a bit farther the crew member felt something soft hit his back. Turning around he came face to face with a Monstrous Nightmare and let out a scream. "More DEMONS" he roared out, looking upon the dragon's shoulders to see a young man adored in flaming armor.

"Hey we are not demons, we are aggghh." the newcomer was interrupted by a blinding pain in his buttocks. The man had a fire burning on his bum from Hookfang's flame. Yelling in pain, the man jumped off his dragon and started running around the deck trying to extinguish the fire. "Put it out, put it out" he cried until he found a barrel of water to dump his rump in. This young man was Snotlout Jorgenson, cousin of Hiccup and one of those vying for 2nd in command of Berk.

"No demons here, just someone who forgot to make their butt fireproof" sighed Hicupp, putting his head to his hand and shaking it in disbelief.

"Don't forget about us." a female voice said, causing all three of them to look towards the direction the voice was coming from. A Hideous Zippleback with two riders emerged from the fog.

"That's right and you are in trouble now" the male said. These two were Ruffnut and Tuffnut Torston. Over the past year they had definitely matured into true Vikings, however they still retained their sense of humor.

Another dragon landed on the deck, this one a Gronckle. With the dragon came Fishlegs Ingerman, who had bulked up even more. "I should have packed extra rocks" the heavy man said. Out of the pouch around his belly popped a baby Gronckle, one of Meatlug's offspring which was named Fishmeat.

Hiccup sighed again, "Fishlegs, again with the baby? This is a raid".

"I couldn't find a sitter." came the man's response as he too, turned to face the crew member. Before said crew member could react and call for backup, a final human dropped from the sky and knocked the man unconscious.

This young lady was Astrid Hofferson, adorned in her new blue Dragonscale Armor, topped off with a spiked crown on her helmet.

"Alright no more fooling around, spread out and get to work." Hiccup ordered the group.

Silence reigned through the night air as the group went to work. They split up each heading towards a different cage to free dragons. However, they did not notice that the other hunters had seen the commotion and were sneaking up from behind. No one noticed except for Toothless, who let out an earsplitting roar. Seeing that they were surrounded, the group realized that they had no choice but to fight their way out.

"Everyone watch out for one another, we can't afford to lose a single dragon nor any of us." ordered Hiccup.

The hunters attacked the Berkians, engaging them while the group's dragons worked on opening the cages and freeing their trapped brethren. Hiccup parried several strikes from a hunter before leg sweeping his opponent with his metal foot, causing said person to cry out in pain. However his opponent was immediately replaced by another one, forcing Hiccup back on the defensive.

Ever since the incident with Drago, Hiccup had upped his training with Astrid in the hopes of becoming a chief worthy of his father's sacrifice. Now the training had paid off as he continued to defeat opponent after opponent, even to this day he had yet to take a life, not wanting the blood on his hands. However, he didn't know how long that was going to be able to last if they wanted peace throughout the archipelago.

The Thorsten twins were going off on several hunters, bashing them with their spears and knocking them unconscious. The duo moved on to several cages, freeing more dragons from their less desirable fate. Fishlegs and Snotlout were both engaged with their own opponents, trying to fend them off while their dragons went to help their own kind.

"Fishlegs duck" the Jorgenson yelled out, throwing his extra mace at his friend's head.

Fishlegs gasped, ducking underneath the weapon. The projectile proceeded to crash right into a hunter's face, knocking the person unconscious as well as sending several teeth flying. Fishlegs sent a nod towards his friend before taking on another hunter. Hiccup had seen all of this and was so proud of how far his team had come. It had been a long six years but they had finally reached full cohesiveness as a unit.

"Babe watch out!" Astrid yelled, shaking Hiccup from his thoughts just in time to bring Inferno up and block a strike from another hunter. Astrid dropped behind his opponent and knocked the final hunter out.

"What would I do without you milady." he said cheekily.

"You would be lost." she responded, punching him in the arm. "Now come on let's free the rest of these dragons and get out of here.".

Hiccup sighed and got to work freeing the rest of the dragons, but doing so in deep thought. "_What would I do without her_?" he wondered. Hiccup could not imagine a world without Astrid. Many things could be used to describe just how important Hiccup felt Astrid was to him. She was his Valkyrie, his better half, the love of his life and most importantly, the future chieftess of Berk. The young chief undid the last cage, finally releasing all of the dragons. "Alright everyone mount up. Our job here is done." the young man ordered his group.

"Good, because I could really use a bath. Nightmare Gel leaves quite the stench on you." Snotlout groaned. Fishlegs, who was next to him took a whiff and his face immediately contorted, pretty much confirming the Jorgeson's statement.

"Did you see us, we messed them up." shouted Ruff.

"Yeah we were totally awesome." added Tuff.

The two twins then proceeded to bang their heads together, causing the rest of the group to chuckle at the twin's antics. Each Viking hopped onto their dragons' backs and the Berkians took off into the sky, followed by the dragons thy had freed. However, the group didn't notice a pair of green eyes watching them before it also flew off into the night sky. The night was still young but the air had cleared up a tiny bit, allowing them to see the sky and all of the stars that adorned it. Some members of his group, such as the twins and Fishlegs were having conversion, but not thee chief. Hiccup knew they had a long flight ahead of them and needed to rest if he wanted enough energy to look presentable to his village. So the chief put Toothless in control and drifted off into blissful sleep.

**Some Time Later**

The group finally neared their home. Looking at the horizon, the sun was beginning to rise and the Isle of Berk came into view. Berk had really changed over the past year. Ever since Drago's attack on the village the Berkians had put a lot of effort and resources into rebuilding their home. Much has changed on Berk in the six years since Hiccup and Toothless bonded and showed Vikings and dragons alike that coexistence between their species is not just a possibility, it's the way of the future. The catapults and trebuchets that once dominated Berk's towers during wartime have now given way to aqueducts, wing-inspired windmills, and Dragon Racing bleachers.

Similar changes also occurred beneath Berk's surface, where a reinforced hangar, complete stables, feeding troughs, and a dragon wash now occupy the old Whispering Death catacombs. Despite Drago Bludvist's vicious attack on the island, Berk survived the Bewilderbeast's barrage and emerged from the fray stronger than ever. Before Hiccup met Toothless, new buildings would have normally indicate a dragon attack. However nowadays Dragons were more inclined to just accidently break buildings instead of burning them to the ground. Color was everywhere on every building, completely different from the dull pattern that was Berk before. Dragons were everywhere and the scent was strong, not that the Berkians minded it.

"Son your back." a figure said aloud, approaching on Stormcutter. This was Hiccup's mother Valka and her dragon Cloudjumper. Over the past year Hiccup and his mother had taken time (whenever Hiccup wasn't busy being the Chief or spending time with Astrid).

"Hey mom, the raid was successful. We need to get some more stalls ready pronto." Hiccup explained as the group pulled into the town's square.

As they dismounted their dragons the rescued ones followed and landed in the square with them. However, the Cimson Goregutter became freaked out by the large amount of people and threw a few Berkians aside. This spooked dragons who were nesting, causing them to become disoriented and fly into several buildings, causing them to weaken and fall over.

"We're going to need some new buildings." muttered Gobber, as the large dragon continued to thrash about.

"He must have had bad experiences with people." reasoned Hiccup. "Toothless see if you can calm him down".

The Nightfury nodded and made his way to the boulder-class dragon. Standing in front of him, the Goregutter let out a thunderous roar in hopes of scaring the Nightfury away. Toothless shrugged it off and let own out his own enhanced roar. Sensing the roar of an Alpha, the lager dragon bent his head in submission and allowed some of the Berkians to take him to his new stall.

"Now that that was taken care of Hiccup, welcome back." greeted Gobber, giving Hiccup a bearhug. Hiccup winced as pain shot through his body for the pressure of the hug.

"Easy Gobber, I may be grown up but that still hurts." chuckled the Chief, separating from his mentor.

It was then that Gobber saw a small dragon with purple blotches among the group that Hiccup had rescued. You brought back a Hobgobbler? They're a bad omen. We are cursed.". he said aloud. Hiccup could only chuckle at Gobber's antics and sigh in relief. It was good to be home, hopefully for a little bit longer this time. "Aye lad, but I really need to talk to you about somthin." the blacksmith tried to get the young chief's attention.

"Can it wait for later Gobber? I just got back so I want a bit of time to relax and eat." Hiccup responded, taking Astrid's hand with his own.

Gobber followed the duo as they made their way up the stairs to the Great Hall. "Hiccup we really need to talk about you bringing all these dragons to Berk." Gobber tried again to get through to the young chief as the three of them entered the Great Hall.

"What are you talking about Gobber everything is great." responded Hiccup as the group meandered their way through the crowded building and towards the end in order to grab a bite to eat.

The population of Berk had really exploding over the past year in regards to the dragons. Both Valka's and Drago's nests had moved in with the young chief, causing the Great Hall to become way overcrowded. Berkians sat next to dragons as they ate, enjoying their meals with the scaly animals. The twins could be found eating as well, while Snotlout watched Valka the male Vikings in an arm-wrestling competition. Hiccup look rather disturbed as Snotlout ogled his mother, but shook his thoughts aside as he approached the stew server.

"Lad are ye even listening to me" Gobber shouted, finally getting the attention of Hiccup.

"Look Gobber, we finally did it. We finally created the first human-dragon utopia, and it's wonderful." spoke the chief, grabbing a bowl of stew and handing another one to Astrid.

"It might be a utopia for you. Personally, mine would less Scaly and more sanitary." joked the Blacksmith. Yes, despite achieving peace with dragons, Gobber couldn't help feel that Berk had become a bit overcrowded.

Reaching over the cauldron to grab some stew, the man yelped in surprise. A Hobgobbler rose from the stew and stared Gobber directly in the eye, sending the blacksmith in a bit of a shiver. Shaking his head, he went back over to where Hiccup and Astrid were sitting and enjoying their food. "Listen lad, you can't keep going out there and rescuing dragons. Maybe it's time you settled back and stayed on Berk." the Blacksmith said.

Hiccup gave him a look that was defiant. "Gobber you know I can't do that. There are dragons that need to be saved and we are getting close to finally beating the Warlords for good." Hiccup explained, tossing his hand aside to prove his point.

"Well then at least tie the knot so we can finally have a real royal couple around here." chuckled Gobber. The tension in the room immediately rose. Everyone else in the hall immediately stopped what they were doing and turned to watch the trio Astrid slammed the spoon she was using on the table, while Hiccup gave Gobber a terrifying look.

"Out of the question Gobber. At least until we defeat the Warlords." the Chief growled at his mentor.

"Look lad, yah need too…".

"OUT OF THE QUUESTION GOBBER." Hiccup interrupted.

"Listen Hiccup you might eventually be fighting a battle you can't win." Gobber tried to explain.

"What are they going to do to Berk? We have dragons on our side, right bud?" Hiccup asked Toothless, giving the dragon a scratch underneath the chin. Said Nightfury purred in content as he gnawed away at a yak-bone.

"That didn't help the Berserkers" Gobber roared back, only to put his hand over his mouth. However, the sentence already came out of his mouth so it was too late. Astrid's and Hiccup's faces immediately turned sour, with the Chief now having a scowl on his face. "I, I didn't mean to chief!" pleaded Gobber reaching out his good hand to Hiccup. Astrid simply smacked it away

"How dare you, how dare you bring them up." she growled. "Come on Babe, let's go". The couple stood up from their seats and started to walk out of the hall. Valka stood from her seat and went over to Gobber and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry Gobber. We know they love each other" sighed the mother.

"I know Valka, but I'm afraid that if Hiccup were to lose Astrid then he would never come out of the depressive state caused by it." the Blacksmith sighed, wiping some sweat from his brow. Valka knew all too well about what Gobber was referring to.

During the first two months of Hiccup's chiefdom tenure, her son was constantly plagued by nightmares of his father's death and thoughts about what he could have done differently. Hiccup would wake up screaming some nights, constantly mumbling and asking himself why the gods took his father away from him. This, on top of the stress from running the village started to take its toll on the young man. Her son nearly tore himself apart over the experience and probably would have if it wasn't for Astrid and Toothless.

Those two were the pillars that supported him through probably the most difficult period of his life. Astrid was strength incarnate, a true warrior. While Toothless was a free. spirit that helped Hiccup cope with his need for exploration. They were a great team, one that Valka hoped could lead Berk into a new era of peace and prosperity. The mother was awoken from her thoughts by Gobber who tapped her.

"Well there is one thing we can count on." he said, pouring himself some mead.

"Oh, and do tell me what that is." Valka asked, doing the same with her own mug.

"He is as stubborn and bore-headed as Stoick ever was." chuckled the blacksmith.

"You do have a point there Gobber." Valka laughed.

"To Berk." Gobber said, lifting his mug.

"To Berk" Valka repeated before clanging mugs with the blacksmith.

The rest of the Berkians joined in on the fun and games broke out. This turned the Great Hall from a regular evening into one of joy and celebration for the Vikings. The sounds of partying and laughter could be heard throughout the Isle but it might have been the exact opposite for the two people who mattered the

**Cliffs Overlooking the Village**

Astrid and Hiccup were on the cliffs as the sun began to approach the horizon. "I can't believe Gobber." Astrid growled, pacing back and forth on the grass.

"_She looks so beautiful when she's angry_" thought Hiccup as his fiancé continued to rant.

"I mean you and I married right now. Absolutely not." she continued.

"So, you don't want to get married?" Hiccup asked, cutting off Astrid. The woman gasped, looking at her boyfriend who looked as if he lost Toothless.

"Of course, I want us to marry. I just want there to be peace before we bring a child into this world." Astrid responded. Hiccup blushed a deep scarlet at his girlfriend's statement and turned his head to see Stormfly and Toothless land next to them.

"I also agree. We need to make sure Berk and the dragons are safe." Hiccup agreed, petting the head of Toothless. The Nightfury put his head down and started sniffing his friend's fake leg. "Toothless you this isn't a chew toy" grumbled the young Chief.

The dragon's response to this was to warble and beg with his paws. Hiccup gave in to his friend's pestering and undid his leg, tossing it as far as he could so the dragon could chase it. The two humans watched their dragons fight over the metal appendage, laughing as Toothless won and gnawed the metal. Hiccup let out a chuckle as the Nightfury growled at the Blue Nadder who kept trying to take the leg away.

"So what's really on your mind milady?" he asked Astrid. The young lady stared into her boyfriend's eyes, her golden hair shining brightly in the remaining sunlight.

"When Gobber brought up Heather I panicked. I still can't believe she's gone." Astrid whispered.

"I know, me too." Hiccup responded, placing a comforting arm around his girlfriend.

Around 3 months ago, the Berkian Dragon Riders had received an invitation to a wedding between Heather and someone named Frelser Morgenson. This came as a shock to the Berkians, especially those who had fought along with the Chieftess of Berserk when she was a member of the riders. That's right, Chieftess. Dagur and Mala had relinquished their control of the tribe so that they could focus on protecting the dragons of Caldera Cay.

Heather had only really shown interest in romance when it came to Fishlegs and that ended up not working out. Hiccup would have thought that the invitation was fake, except for the fact that it had both the Berserk seal, as well as the Caldera Cay Insignia. This could not be faked as this was their new insignia that they had introduced after Dagur and Mala's marriage. With the confirmation the group of Berkians prepared for the wedding day and made all sorts of gifts for the new couple.

Hiccup was really interested in the man that had stolen his foster sister's heart and was looking forward to getting to know Frelser. Hiccup and the others had flown to the island along with their gifts, only to discover something horrific. The entire island had been raised to the ground. Buildings were burned and the entire village was buried in ash, leaving nothing behind. The damage was quite fresh, it probably occurred several days prior to the group's arrival. The Berkians searched high and low for any possible sign of Heather, but all they saw were the bodies of the deceased Berserkers.

The stench of death remained in the air as the visitors gave the deceased Vikings a proper funeral. However, the question still remained, where was Heather? Hiccup and the others flew to Caldera Cay only to find that the members of the island hadn't seen their leaders in over a week as they had gone to Berserk for Heather's wedding. So not only was Heather and her apparent fiancé apparently dead, but Mala and Dagur as well. The alliance that Hiccup and his friends had forged with their blood sweat and tears was on the verge of falling apart. And so, Hiccup and the others buried their sorrows in their attempts to rescue dragons. This led to their most recent rescue at the hands of the Warlords.

Hiccup and Astrid were shaken from their reminiscing by Toothless and Stormfly, who tackled them to the ground. "Ok Toothless we can head back in a few minutes. Just give me my leg bud." said Hiccup. The Nightfury dropped the fake leg onto his friends lap before giving the young chief a nice big lick. "Ugh Toothless, you know this doesn't wash out." whined Hiccup.

Astrid let out a small chuckled but was grabbed around the waist by her boyfriend. "And just what are you laughing at?" the chief asked cheekily.

"Oh nothing. Just that you always say that but he never listens." answered Astrid, who was then kissed on the lips by her boyfriend. Even though it tasted terrible because of Toothless's saliva, she still enjoyed the thought. "We better head back. I'm sure your mother and Gobber will want to see how we are".

Hiccup sighed but took his fiancé's hand in his own and squeezed it tightly. "Alright milady, you're right." spoke the young man looking out at the sunset. "_Gods, if only we could stay like this forever_".

"Come on chief, your people are waiting." laughed Astrid. The blonde-haired beauty pulled him off the ground and the duo went down the cliff on their dragons.

It was a peaceful night on the Isle of Berk. However, what the chief didn't know was how quickly a paradise could turn into a nightmare. But for now, all Hiccup wanted to do was enjoy the time he had with his girlfriend and their dragons. Little did they know how much their lives were going to change.

* * *

**Well that takes care of this chapter. We have been reintroduced to Hiccup and the rest of the Berkians. On top of that we learned that Heather was engaged. But Berserk has been destroyed and the chieftess and her family are presumed dead. Who could be responsible for this? The only way to find out is to read. As always; fave follow, and review. Until next time, Commard out.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Hello Boys and Girls, I'm back with another chapter of Destiny is a Fickle Mistress. Last Chapter we learned that Berserk was **

**attacked by a mysterious person leaving Mala, Dagur, Heather, and her Fiance presumably dead. This caused quite a stir on the **

**Isle of Berk since Gobber wants Hiccup and Astrid to get married so this doesn't happen to them. THis caused quite the stir **

**between Hiccup and his mentor but things will get back o normal. Now we pick a bit later on in the week and see what our **

**Heroes are up to.**

"Human Speech"

_"Human Thoughts"_

**"Dragon Speech"**

_**"Dragon**_** Thoughts"**

* * *

Hiccup was in deep thought as he watched Toothless fall asleep in the corner of his room. Dark starry nights like these made the young man reminisce about the past. It truly was incredible to think that only six years ago; Berk and the dragons were at each other's throats. He was going through some of his old stuff when a book fell from the shelf. "What's this?" he asked himself, picking up the leather-bound object. It was old and clearly left alone for a long period of time due to the dust on it. Wiping off some of said dust revealed his father's handwriting. "I've never seen this before." Hiccup opened the journal and saw the words _The Dragon's Hidden World_. Suddenly the young chief was hit with a memory of his youth

**Flashback**

Hiccup was around five or six years old when his father took him by the hand and led him up to the cliffs above the village. "Dad what are we doing up here?" the young child asked.

"I wanted to show ya somthin son." the large man said. Young Hiccup let out a soft yelp as his father lifted him up and put him on one of the chief's massive shoulders. "This is Berk. Our home." he said aloud, showing his tiny son a view of the village below.

"Wow." was all the young boy could say as a response.

"That's right son." the chief answered back. "Now a chief protects his own and one day I might not be here for you".

"Because of dragons?" asked the young boy.

"Maybe. But what I do know is that out there" the chief pointed at the horizon lining the ocean "Out there is the home of all dragons, the Hidden World". Young Hiccup's eyes widened at this and looked out to the ocean, thinking of the possibilities. "I believe that it is your destiny to find it and make peace with dragons." Stoick said.

"Really?" asked the young boy.

"Yes son, but first we need to get you to grow a little first." the chief added. The last remnants of the memory began to fade away leaving Hiccup back inside of his house holding his dad's old book.

**Present Time**

Hiccup stared at the words written on the paper. "_A hidden world, wouldn't that be something_." he thought. To be honest it sounded fantastic, a place where dragons could be free from hunters who would try to hurt them and to live out their lives peacefully. Hiccup didn't want to think about what would happen if he ever had to leave Toothless, so he decided not to. "_Although, it may be something to look into just in case_." he thought before being interrupted by a loud snort. Turning to his right he saw that Toothless had fallen asleep and begun to snore. "You really are a softie aren't you" he whispered to his dragon, petting the reptile's snout.

Hiccup remained awake for another hour, scanning through more of his dad's notes and looking for anything that could tell him about this so-called _Hidden World_. When he finally found a few manuscripts that could help, Hiccup decided to head to bed and read them in the morning. Although he didn't know it at the time, but this was one of the last nights he would ever have in his own house.

**Mainland, East of the Archipelago**

Across the land, a man in his early 50's sat in his home sipping on some ale. His blonde hair had long streaks of gray in it, signifying his age as a man who was no longer in his youth. This man was Grimmel Jeger, now known as Grimmel the Grisly. In the years since his family's death at the hands of an Alpha Lightfury, Grimmel had devoted himself to killing the entire species.

The man's chest, arms, and legs were covered in tiny vertical scars, each one representing a Night or Lightfury he had killed in the 20 years since the destruction of his village. The man had just returned from ending the life of a Lightfury and finally ending the miserable species, avenging his family (or so he thought). This last Lightfury was exceedingly tricky to find. Not only because it was the daughter of the dragon who killed his family, but also because a human had taken a liking to it as impossible as it seemed.

Said human was extremely cunning, Grimmel would go as far as to say he was nearly as smart as himself. No man nor beast had been able to avoid his capture nearly as long as this rider had, a rider that he didn't even know the name of, despite the young man being such a worthy opponent. The former chief's prey had escaped him for nearly a year after losing them in the Viking Archipelago.

Fortunately for Grimmel he had found the two of them and caught them off-guard. It was a shame really; the rider was just about to get married to a rather beautiful looking girl. Grimmel used his Deathgrippers to burn the rider's village to the ground, just as the mother of the rider's Lightfury did to his village a long time ago.

Although he finally achieved his revenge, there was still a large hole in the former chief's heart. With his house and the rest of his village burnt to ash, the man had moved towards the coast and built a small home for himself and his dragons. The small hut had the bare essentials as well as the only thing that had survived the fire all those years ago. That being the locket he had fashioned for himself that held the picture of his family.

Grimmel sighed, continuing to drink the alcohol in his mug as his dragons slept outside. Ever since the incident, Grimmel didn't trust any of his Deathgrippers. How could he? After all, they pinned him to the ground and made him watch as the Lightfury slaughtered his beloved wife and son. To make sure that they wouldn't betray him Grimmel would inject them with their own venom to block out an Alpha's call. Now that there were no longer any Alpha's left to hunt, the man was thinking about stopping said action permanently.

The stench of booze was permeating the air but Grimmel was too far gone for it to have any effect on him. All he wanted to do was drown in his sorrows, he had even contemplated taking his own life. "_It would be so painless. A quick noose and a jump would make all of this pain go away_" he thought, getting up from his seat and grabbing some rope from his closet. Normally Grimmel would not even entertain the idea of committing suicide as the act was dishonorable to his family, but the alcohol had clouded his judgment.

**Outside with the Deathgrippers**

Gluupsk and the other Deathgrippers watched their friend climb up onto his roof. "**Master can't be doing what I think he is**." said the dragon, watching as Grimmel tied the rope to the of his hut. Glupsk watched as his friend and companion tied the other half of the rope around his neck and prepared to jump off of the roof. "**Master NOOOOO**" roared the Deathgripper, as the man jumped.

The dragon shot upwards and used his tail to slice through the rope before catching Grimmel in his hands. The former chief had closed his eyes prepping for the end but was shaken from his stupor as he and Glupsk crashed into the ground. The dragon pulled his master onto his feet. "**WHAT WERE YOU THINKING**?" Glupsk roared into the man's face. "**I know it's been tough for us since your mate and hatchling died, but you can't just throw your life away**". Although Grimmel couldn't understand what his dragon was saying, he could get the gist of what he meant. "**Did you even think about the other dragons, about me?**" Glupsk asked, tears forming in his eyes.

The former chief could only shake his head as everything finally came to a head. "_What WAS I thinking. Salva, Hersker, and the others would not have wanted me to grieve for this long. And by trying to take the cowards way out I have dishonored them_." he thought. Grimmel wrapped his arms around Glupsk's torso and embraced the dragon in a hug.

"Thank you Glupsk. Thank you for snapping me out of my cowardly actions. You and the others deserve much better than a foolish old man". The dragon let out a call, causing the other Deathgrippers to come join them. Grimmel let out a happy sigh, feeling relaxed and at peace for the first time in over 20 years. Despite all that he endured; the man was still grateful for the dragons who had always been at his side. Now completely sober, the man was about to head inside and get some rest when he heard footsteps coming from the forest. "Show yourself" Grimmel roared out, as his dragons stood in front of him to protect their friend.

"Grimmel it's Budbringer. I bring you a message from the Warlords." a young man said, stepping out from the woods.

"What could those three war-mongers and traiors want from me?" asked the elderly man, as the messenger approached.

"All I know is that they wanted your services for something and to meet them at Glacier Island in two days' time." Budbringer explained. "By the way sir, it's good to see you doing well." he added before leaving the scene.

Grimmel opened the scroll and saw that it told him that it was time to make a move and avenge Drago. The former chief sighed. He was never a huge fan of Drago as he thought he was full of himself and obnoxious. He only worked with him in order to find the location of Fury dragons. But oh well, he guessed it was time to confront his former co-workers about the remains of Drago's so-called dragon army. "Glupsk" he called to his Deathgripper, causing the dragon to raise his head. "I want you and the others to get a good night's sleep. We leave at Dawn". With that Grimmel headed back into his hut to get his own rest, hoping that this would be the last time he would have to leave the safety of his hut.

**Two Days Later**

Grimmel and his dragons were flying over the ocean of the Viking Archipelago. Looking upon the horizon, they saw Glacier Island appearing from the distance. Despite it's name, Glacier Island was not a glacier at all. Instead it was a dry island, with little to no plant life. "_Of all the places to make a base, why did they choose here?_" the man wondered as his dragons approached the island.

A horn sounded and Grimmel signaled for his dragons to land which they did. However, they were soon surrounded by a multitude of hunters. "Gentlemen I have been invited here by your lords, so it would be nice if you could let me through." said the man, before tossing the invitation scroll to the head hunter. Ivar the Witless.

Said hunter unrolled the scroll and read it. A pregnant pause infiltrated the air as both groups waited on the decision of the man reading the parchment. After what felt like forever the man threw the scroll back to Grimmel. "Follow me and I will take you to them." the man said, motioning for Grimmel to follow him.

Some of the other hunters went to grab the Deathgrippers only for said reptiles to snap at them. "My dragons come with me." the former chief responded, not even taking a step until they were guaranteed safety.

"Of course." the head hunter nodded. Grimmel, Glupsk, and the other two Deathgrippers followed the head hunter further inland towards a giant arena. The group continually walked past a multitude of cages filled with different species of dragons. However, most of the cages were empty or only had a single dragon in them.

"_They seem to being a bit of a shortage ay. No wonder they haven't made any progress in their supposed plan_." Grimmel thought. The door to the arena opened for the group, allowing them to walk through and into the arena. There were more cages in the arena with hunters trying to get dragons into them, including a giant blue Rumblehorn. But Grimmel was not paying attention to that, instead his eyes were looking at the three figures in the center of the arena at a small table. These three people were Chaghatai Khan, Griselda the Grievous, and Ragnar the Rock.

Chaghatai Khan (Chag for short) was a man who hailed from the far east. He had a stocky build and sported. a goatee. His weapon of choice was two katanas. Grimmel had trained with him when they first formed the group, partially because he was serious but not nearly as stubborn as Griselda.

Speaking of Griselda, she was a tough woman who reminded him of his very own Salva at times. However, she had tried to form a relationship with him when they were in the same group, which caused Grimmel to leave. Despite leaving on sour terms the former chief did have some feelings for Griselda and her spear-based combat form.

Last but certainly not least, there was Ragnar the Rock. He was one of the most incompetent people that Grimmel has ever met, but he was friendly. Ragnar was a mountain of a man, who had several tattoos adorning both arms. This made him an imposing warrior who could do major damage to anyone, especially if they ended up on the wrong end of his sword. Shaking from his stupor, Grimmel saw that some of the dragons were still being put away in their cages as the Warlords had finally noticed his arrival.

"Grimmel! My old friend! How are ya?" asked Ragnar, offering his hand for the visitor to shake. However, he was simply ignored as the former chief walked right passed him.

"So why am I here? A year since Drago's defeat and no further along with your dragon army, I see." Grimmel snapped, a bit fed up with the fact that he was dragged all of the way out here by his former associates.

"You can thank the young chief of Berk for that." growled Griselda, her teeth grinding against one another.

"Stoick's boy, the fishbone?" asked the elderly man. Although he had never met the boy himself, Grimmel had met Stoick the Vast on several occasions. From what the man told him; his son was nearly identical to Grimmel at that age. Clumsy, skinny, yeah that brought up memories that Grimmel would rather not relive.

"Yes, he changed the way the Archipelago views dragons, and they stop us from capturing more every chance they get." Chag explained.

"So, you want me to help you in your quest to avenge Drago. Is that it?" Grimmel asked, already knowing the answer.

"That's right Grimmel, as part of the group we will avenge Drago and…" Griselda was cut off as Grimmel slammed his fist on the table.

"How many times do I have to tell you three, I never liked nor cared for Drago and his methods. That's why I left your little group after he attacked the Chief Meeting and tried to embarress me in front of everyone." explained the former chief as he began to circle the three warlords.

"But you are still one of us" Chag pleaded.

"I was never one of you. I was just a man fighting for the vengeance of his family and village, nothing more and nothing less." Grimmel snapped, causing the trio to pull back slightly from his words. "So tell me, what could you possibly offer me for my services in order to help you in YOUR battle? That idiot boy has done all of the work for you, gathering the dragons in one place. Why bother me." he added, jabbing his hand towards them at the word your.

This caused everyone around them to stop and watch what was occurring. There was complete silence and the hunters were sure that they could actually feel the tension between the for battle-hardened warriors. "Well, I'm waiting." Grimmel added, looking very much like he wanted to kill someone.

"The chief Hiccup." Ragnar paused, debating on what to say next.

"Because the flock is protected by a Nightfury" Chag finished the sentence for him. Grimmel's face instantly changed from one of anger to one of curiosity.

"Not possible." said Grimmel in disbelief and frankly why would he believe them. He had tracked down every fury he could find to the ends of the earth. Surely he would have known that Berk had one.

"Well it seems one slipped through your fingers" Chag retorted.

"It's not just any Nightfury. It is an alpha, definitely the last of its kind with you hunting them." Griselda added, knowing that the man would not let this chance get away.

Grimmel put a hand to his chin and adopted a thoughtful face. "_Interesting, perhaps there is still an opponent who can give me a challenge_." he thought.

"Look, Berk's dragons will follow their Alpha. So, we'll pay you to capture him and bring the flock to us." spoke Ragnar, offering out his hand again.

"Alright I'll do it, but I expect to be paid handsomely. 1,000 pounds of gold." Grimmel stated, naming his price.

"Your insane there's no way we'd pay th…" Chag was interrupted by Griselda, who put her hand over his mouth.

"Done. Bring us the Nightfury and you will have your reward." she answered.

Grimmel shook Ragnar's hand and began to walk out with his Deathgrippers. "Why are we paying him that much? There is no way he can still hunt as well as he used too." Chag whispered to Griselda.

Suddenly the blue Rumblehorn broke free from its restraints and charged at the retreating Grimmel. "Because" Griselda started to say as Grimmel saw the dragon charging. The former chief calmly removed the crossbow from his back and fired a bolt, connecting with the Rumblehorn's side. "He's the best." she finished as the dragon became paralyzed from the venom, sliding to a stop right at Grimmel's feet.

Without a word, the elderly man placed the crossbow away and he and his dragons left the arena before shooting upwards into the sky. Although he had left, the three warlords continued to plan. "So, are we going to tell him about the legend?" Ragnar asked Griselda, who was looking towards the retreating speck that was Grimmel and his Deathgrippers.

"No, he has no interest in such things_. At least not yet"_ she responded, pulling out a square shaped object which was covered in cloth. "Besides" Griselda then removed the cloth to reveal a small stone tablet with strange symbols on it. "He would just ask for more of a reward".

**Unknown Location**

Deep below the Earth's surface, a young woman knelt beside a make-shift stone bed in a cave. The woman had long black hair tied in a braid and piercing green eyes. She was wearing a brown vest with metal shoulder and arm guards. She also had a silver skirt that nearly went down to her kneecaps. This woman was Heather Berserk, chieftess of the Berserker tribe. Well former chieftess after her tribe was slaughtered by a man whose name had been ingrained in her head ever since. The man's name, Grimmel the Grisly.

Heather had never heard of Grimmel until her fiancé had told her about him nearly four months ago, just days before their wedding. Said fiancé was currently on the slab in front of her laying in a tremendous amount of pain. Her poor Frelser had shoved her out of the way of a Deathgripper's strike and took the full force of the impact. He had barely survived but was constantly in pain from the scars.

"Windshear, can you bring me more ointment girl?" the woman asked here dragon. The Razorwhip cooed softly and picked up a small bag from the corner of the cave with her mouth. Bringing it over to her rider, the dragon placed it gently on the ground. "Thanks girl" Heather said softly as he took the bag and removed the small box that contained the healing ointment. She then placed some of the salve on her fingers. She began to gently rub the ointment onto the scars that were on her fiancé's chest and back, causing the young man to cry out unconsciously in pain.

The Razorwhip nudged her rider, trying to make her feel any better. "I know girl, he should be better soon." the Berserker whispered. Suddenly a flapping was heard and the two friends turned to see another dragon land. Said dragon walked right past the duo and nuzzled the unconscious Frelser with its head. "He'll be fine, just give him a few more days." Heather sighed, stroking the newcomer's head. The dragon whined but nodded. Heather looked down in sadness but snapped out of it when she got an idea.

"Girl I want you to take this to Berk" she said, grabbing the bag, which was still filled with a few other objects. "Find the one I told you about and give this to him." she ordered, placing the satchel around the dragon's neck. Heather removed a necklace from her chest. The necklace was given to her by Hiccup the last time she had had seen him right after his father's death. It contained one of Toothless's scales and was meant to be a symbol of friendship. "Use this to find him" Heather revealed, putting the scale up to the dragon's nostril. With a few quick inhales the dragon locked on to the scent. The dragon roared and took off with a loud whistle, leaving the Berserk Chieftess and Windshear behind.

As the dragon left two shadows approached Heather from the back of the cave. "We need her to be successful, otherwise the same thing that happened to us will happen to Berk." she said aloud, hoping to the gods that they were successful. On top of that Hiccup would provide much needed help in taking down the person who had attacked them and ruined their lives.

* * *

**And with that we are done with Chapter 4. Things should start picking up soon now that we know that Heather is alive and well but her fiance is **

**injured. Hopefully she will be able to heal whatever is causing his pain. Now you might be asking yourself; why doeesn't she just leave and get **

**Hiccup herself. Well she doesn't want o leave her sick fiance alone, also there is another rreason which will be explained later on in the story. **

**Anyway fave, follow, and review. Until next time, Commard out.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hello everyone and welcome back to Destiny is a Fickle Mistress. Last time we saw that Hiccup had found his father's journals and became **

**interested in the idea of a hidden dragon world. We also learned that Grimmel is not the fierce man we thought he was. He clearly has some sort **

**of depression and PTSD. Luckily Glupsk was able to stop him and that led us to meeting thee three Warlords who had a relationship with **

**Grimmel in the past. Also, HTTYD: The Hidden World is out in America on May 21st. Now let's get this chapter started.**

"Human Speech"

_"Human Thoughts"_

**"Dragon Speech"**

_**"Dragon**_** Thoughts"**

* * *

It had been three days since Hiccup had discovered his dad's journal and he had spent every moment available looking for more information about this so-called Hidden World. Things on Berk had been fine and Gobber had not asked the two of them to marry, so everything was ok.

It was early in the morning when Toothless had awakened him from his sleep. "Bud it's early can this wait?" he asked. The reptile would not be ignored and stepped on his rider's stomach causing the Viking to gasp in pain. "Alright, alright I'm up." Hiccup whined. The rider performed a quick stretch before putting on his clothes. Meanwhile his dragon was running in circles, practically begging for them to go somewhere "_Now what could be so important_" he wondered.

**Several Minutes Ago**

Toothless was enjoying life. Ever since he had been released from that evil queen's clutches, he and his human Hiccup had been on one adventure after another. He knew that their days of adventuring would for the most part, be coming to an end soon. He had been dreaming of his family again, his old family. The family he had before encountering the Red Death. He had a nightmare again, the one where his parents sacrificed themselves to allow him to escape a hunter. "**_I need these nightmares to stop_**." the dragon thought, stretching his body. Suddenly Toothless heard a low whistle, a whistle that only a Nightfury could hear. **_"NO, It couldn't be_**?" exclaimed Toothless. Thee sound became louder and louder to him but no one else seemed to notice or wake up. "**Hiccup come on wake up. You need to check this out.**" the dragon grumbled, when his rider didn't move, he stepped on Hiccup's chest, getting the human out of bed.

**Normal Perspective**

Hiccup had no idea why his dragon had woken him up so early but the Nightfury's excitement got him interested. As the duo snuck through the village they ran into Astrid. "What are you doing up so early?" she asked her fiancé.

"Normally I wouldn't be but Toothless is hyper for some reasoooon…" Hiccup yelped as the Nightfury put his head between the human's legs and tossed Hiccup onto his back. Toothless gave Astrid a face as well, almost as if he was asking her to come along.

"Oh alright, I guess Stormfly can wait for her morning flight." the woman conceded and hopped onto the black dragon's back as well.

Toothless took off into the forest in a run, racing through the undergrowth with ease. Despite the early awakening, Hiccup could smell the forest around him and it was lovely. Toothless bounded carefully through the remote reaches of Berk, stopping every so often before charging forward again.

"I wonder why he's doing that" thought Astrid. Suddenly they were hit with a massive whistle coming from about a mile away.

"No it couldn't be?" said the chief aloud.

"A Nightfury?" Astrid asked, her voice nearly stuttering in disbelief.

Toothless's ears rose as he continued on his way until they approached a clearing. The dragon let the humans off of his back before slowly stepping into the open part of the forest. Hiccup let out a near silent gasp at what the group saw. At the far edge of the clearing was a white Nightfury and it was gorgeous. The dragon had beautiful blue eyes and a long slender body. This was the source of the whistling sound they had heard, and the dragon immediately stopped said sound as it saw Toothless approach from the edge of the clearing.

"He's not the only one." whispered Hiccup. "Why don't you introduce yourself bud?" as he saw the female features of the white dragon.

The Nightfury looked back at his friend before slowly stepping out into the clearing. his heart fluttered as the white dragon saw him. "**Nightfury**" a soft voice came out of the Lightfury's mouth, catching Toothless's attention.

"**Yes?**" he asked, unsure of what this female was trying to get at.

"**I seek the one named Hiccup**." she said, causing Toothless to nearly let out a gasp in surprise before lowering his body in a defensive stance.

"**Why do you want to know that**?" the black dragon asked, not wanting to growl and possibly alert the female to his friends' presence.

"**My friend's fiancé wanted me to give him this**." the Lightfury explained, turning her body to reveal a satchel on the ground. "**I promise it will not harm him, on my honor as a dragon.**" she added, seemingly to pacify Toothless's fears.

"**Alright, I will take it to Hiccup**. **Stay here**" the Nightfury responded. Toothless reached his head down and picked up the satchel in his mouth before making his way back towards his friends.

"**I'll be waiting hot stuff**." she answered back, causing Toothless to stumble and almost fall on his face from the remark.

"**_She thinks I'm cute. She's not. so bad herself_**." he thought as he approached his human. If a dragon could blush, the humans would have seen it on Toothless's face.

"What do you have there bud?" Hiccup asked, seeing an object in his friend's mouth. The dragon dropped the satchel into his human's hand and allowed them to check out its contents.

"What's this?" Astrid asked, pulling out what appeared to be some sort of dart. There was a strange symbol on the side of the dart that looked very similar to to Warlords' symbol. Toothless took one whiff of it and let out a loud hiss in discomfort.

"Whatever it is, we know it's bad for dragons." responded Hiccup, before finding another object in the bag.

The young man pulled said object out to reveal clay dragon figurine. Said figurine had a long tail with a needle at the end of it (a Deathgripper). "I've never seen a dragon like this." the chief exclaimed, observing the clay model.

"Toothless why don't you get your new friend to come back with us" Astrid suggested. The Nightfury thought this was a fantastic idea, as he thought the other Fury was beautiful.

While this was going on, the Light fury caught wind of a strange scent. "**_No, how could they already be here_**." the Lightfury shrieked internally.

Toothless had turned around and came back into the clearing but the Lightfury realized she wouldn't be safe here. Without a word, she blasted off into the sky, leaving Toothless on the ground. "**No wait, come back.**" the male dragon pleaded, desperately trying to follow the Lightfury.

However, he wouldn't succeed because his tail was only built to be used by Hiccup. And so Toothless came crashing back down into the clearing. "Toothless are you ok?" asked Hiccup, running into the open to check up on his friend. The dragon gave him a very glum look, clearly saddened that the female had left them. "Don't worry bud, I'm sure she'll be back". Although he tried to assure his friend, Hiccup didn't know for certain if they would ever see that dragon again. Come on Toothless, let's head back to the village".

With that Hicupp and his dragon walked back into the forest where Astrid was waiting for them. "So that wasn't a Nightfury, but what should we call it?" he asked his fiancé.

"How about Lightfury." suggested Astrid, reaching out her hand and stroking Toothless's scales.

"Lightfury huh. I like the sound of that." Hiccup concurred, "Lightfury it is".

The trio went back into Berk's village and Hiccup began telling the others what they saw. Everyone was excited at the prospect of Toothless having a girlfriend despite the dragon leaving them in the dust. It took Fishlegs several attempts to get a drawing of the new species into his dragon manual, since he was bad at visualizing what Hiccup was describing. Eventually they settled on just drawing a Nightfury that was colored white.

Hiccup was digging through the satchel and showed his mother the clay statue. "Mom have you ever seen a dragon like this?" he asked his mother, handing her the statue.

The middle-aged woman took a few seconds examining the structure before responding. "No I can't say I have." she answered with a perplexed look on her face.

"I wonder where the Lightfury even came from. Clearly she is friends with some humans based on her having this satchel." Astrid reasoned.

"You're right, but who could have sent her and why?" Hiccup wondered, pulling out the dart. Eret looked at the dart and gasped. "What's wrong?" Hiccup asked the former hunter.

"Clearly this dragon has had rough experiences with humans in the past." said the man, causing the Berkians to adopt a look of confusion on each of their faces.

"What do you mean" Astrid prodded, unsure about why the dart had Eret so worked up.

"This dart belongs to a dragon hunter known as Grimmel the Grisly. He is probably the greatest dragon hunter in the world, besides yours truly of course." the former hunter chuckled trying to lighten the mood. However, when no one laughed with him; Eret stopped his tone.

"How dangerous do you think he is?" the chief asked, hoping for at least some information about this possible foe.

"He's probably the smartest man I've ever encountered, besides you chief. So, he is very dangerous. Whoever sent this Lightfury is warning us of a possible attack." Eret answered.

Everyone was silent as they digested this new information. Hiccup clenched his fist in anger at the thought of such a threat so soon after Drago. "Alright I want are perimeters secured." the chief ordered Fishlegs. "No one goes in or out without me knowing about it." Valka nodded and headed off to spread the message. As everyone else left the scene, Hiccup was left with Astrid alone.

"Do you think this Grimmel could be that big of a threat?" she asked he fiancé, causing him to pause on their way back to his home.

"I don't know, but it never hurts to be careful. I learned that the. hard way with Drago." Hiccup responded before planting a soft kiss on his future wife's cheek.

With that they separated, leaving Hiccup and Toothless to head back to their home by themselves. Despite a beautiful sunset and a calm breeze in the air, the young chief couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that was building in his gut. Toothless gave a soft coo as he saw some of the young Nadders playing nearby.

Seeing this, Hiccup tried to reassure his friend. "Don't worry bud. I'm sure she'll be back." he said, scratching underneath the dragon's chin and behind his ears. "In fact let's head back to the clearing tomorrow and look for her after our rounds are done". The Nightfury let out a gummy smile and gave his best friend a huge lick to the face. "Agh Toothless don't do that" whined Hiccup halfheartedly.

However despite the saliva drenching his face, Hiccup could not remain mad at his best friend for long. The next morning the duo awoke to a bright sunny day. After greeting his fellow Berkians and performing his morning inspection of the village, Hiccup decided that they had enough time to see if the Lightfury had returned to the forest. He and Toothless slowly made their way to the outskirts of the opening when the dragon bounded out and started to head to where the female had stood yesterday. Hiccup observed the open area and noticed that the pattern in the long grass had changed, almost as if something was hidden there.

"TOOOTHLESS!" he yelled out, causing said dragon to freeze in his tracks. "Don't move." he whispered. Hiccup didn't want to be right but he had to find out. So the chief took a large stick from the bushes and tossed it out into the open to the place where the Lightfury was the night prior. Suddenly there was a loud snap and a dragon trap sprung from the ground and snapped together. The trap just missed Toothless, causing the dragon to let out a gasp of surprise. Hiccup immediately threw several more sticks into the open to make sure there weren't any more traps laying about.

When nothing sprang up, the young chief walked out to inspect the trap. Toothless was quaking in fear in fear, his body now curled up into a ball after nearly experiencing his own death. "Hey bud, it's okay." Hiccup whispered softly. The Viking rubbing his dragon's head, trying to calm the reptile down.

While this was going on, he looked upon the metal contraption that had come so close to ending his best friend's life. It was a large trap that would snap together, however this is not what got Hiccup's attention. Etched into the metal was the same symbol they had found on the dart given to them by the Lightfury, the symbol of Grimmel the Grisly. Hiccup gasped and immediately took off with Toothless back to the village.

Astrid saw them coming out of the forest and noticed the panicked look on her fiancé's face. "Babe what's going on? What happened?" she asked, trying to get the young man to calm down. Gobber and Valka saw this as well and immediately came over to the chief's side. Sweat drenched Hiccup's brow as he tried to collect himself. After nearly a minute of silence, the young man finally spoke.

"He's here." Hiccup whispered. Everyone around him adopted confused looks, not knowing who Hiccup was referring to.

"Who's here?" prodded Valka.

"Grimmel the Grisly. Toothless and I found one of his traps in the forest." the chief revealed.

"How did he get past our sentries?" asked Gobber.

"It doesn't matter how. What matters is that we protect our dragons." Astrid answered.

The three of them turned towards Hiccup and waited for him to respond. "I think I have a plan." the young man said "But first we need to get a few other people".

**That Night**

Hiccup was in his room looking over some more of his father's journals. Since he began his quest to look for more information about the hidden world; Hiccup had found enough details to create an idea of where the actual location of the Hidden World could be.

Toothless lay asleep in the corner and had a blanket draped over his body. The night was quiet, definitely too quiet for Hiccup's liking. Hiccup heard a noise coming from the roof, almost as if something had landed on it. His suspicions were confirmed when dust fell from the ceiling. "_He's here_." the chief thought, walking a bit closer to his dragon and turning to face Toothless.

Hiccup heard a soft thud behind him. "Grimmel the Grisly I presume?" said Hiccup, turning around to face the figure.

Although his face didn't show it, Grimmel was a bit shocked that Hiccup knew who he was. However the shock faded and he quickly snapped back into character. "And you must be little Hiccup. Is it Hic up or Hiccup" the hunter taunted the Berkian.

The man reached for something in his pocket causing Hiccup to place his hand on his weapon. However, the small tension caused by this action lifted, as Grimmel simply removed a bottle of wine and poured a small glass for himself. "Do you mind if I have a drink?" the man asked Hiccup, not really caring if the chief answered him.

"Why are you here" Hiccup asked, he knew Grimmel was a dragon hunter but he didn't know what the man was specifically after.

"You've built an interesting settlement here on Berk." the hunter began, taking a sip from his glass. "Dragons and humans living together in perfect peace, how preposterous".

Hiccup already could tell that the man was only here to taunt him. "Why do you say that when we have peace in front of you." asked Hiccup, unsure of what Grimmel was getting at.

"Your nothing like your father. Now, that was a chief. One of the greatest dragon hunters to have ever lived! What would he think of you making peace with dragons? the hunter asked.

"He changed and saw reason." Hiccup responded.

"And look at what's happened to him." sneered Grimmel.

The chief stood in place and decided to try keep Grimmel talking. "Why do you think humans and dragons can't coexist?" asked Hiccup.

"It's quite simple boy" the man sneered before continuing. "A long time ago I was like you were. Skinny, short, a fishbone. However, that changed when I found a Nightfury in the forest and killed it." the man revealed, causing Hiccup to gasp.

The young chief unconsciously took a step towards his dragon as the intruder continued his story. "When I returned to the village with the beast's head, I was hailed as a hero. My father, the chief of my tribe finally acknowledged me for who I was." Grimmel took another sip from his cup.

Hiccup noticed the similarities between his own upbringing and the upbringing of Grimmel. "_What would have happened if I had ended up killing Toothless_?" he wondered.

However, he was shaken from his thoughts as Grimmel continued his tale. "I was the pride of my village and eventually met my lovely wife. We even had a son. But nothing in this world is sacred".

Hiccup took in what the man in front of him just said. "_Would Astrid still have fallen in love with me after all of that?_" he wondered, as the intruder resumed his soliloquy. "What happened?".

"Well I wanted to hunt a nightfury and have a suit of dragon-skin armor made for him as a birthday gift. I ended up finding a Nightfury and its hatchling." Grimmel revealed, causing a sickening feeling to develop in Hiccup's gut. "I killed the demon but its hatchling escaped with its mate". Grimmel's face suddenly darkened and he resumed his tale. "I returned home to my wife and child for a night of peace. But the next night everything changed. I was woken up from my house to find my village set aflame by dragons who began slaughtering my fellow villagers".

"No. Dragons would never do such a thing." Hiccup protested immediately.

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT DRAGONS CAN AND CAN'T DO." the hunter roared back, immediately silencing the Berkian Chief. "I had sent my wife and child away as the battle raged on. It was then I found out that these dragons were controlled by an Alpha. A Nightfury Alpha". Hiccup's face paled and he shifted uncomfortably towards his friend, hoping to the gods that it wasn't noticed by Grimmel. "This Nightfury was the mate of the one I had just killed. I know this because it was entirely white, just like its offspring".

"_There's no way it's the same one who warned us about him is it?_" questioned Hiccup.

"This alpha female destroyed my people as they let me escape. I eventually found my wife but the nightfury returned and killed her in front of me before burning my son alive." Grimmel revealed before raising his voice again. "So don't tell me that dragons are all kind creatures, especially Nightfurys".

Hiccup stood in shock; he had never heard of dragons attacking a whole village for revenge. "_Although if an Alpha Nightfury had enough motive they could easily cause a massive amount of death and destruction_".

"And so I made a vow to the gods, I vowed to remove every Nightfury from this world as my own vengeance." explained the man, who then removed one of his wrist guards.

Hiccup nearly gasped. Grimmel's arm was covered in thin white scars, neatly lined across his appendage. "I've hunted every Nightfury and for each one I tallied them on my body to keep track. Now every Nightfury is dead, every one except yours." the intruder glared darkly at the young chief.

"You'll never get Toothless" Hiccup answered defiantly. The chief quickly pulled out Inferno and ignited the blade, causing the hunter to flinch at the flaming weapon.

"I'm sorry you think that way" Grimmel responded, pulling out his crossbow and firing two darts.

Hiccup sliced the first one in half but was unable to stop the second from hitting Toothless. The dragon let out a pained roar as the dart entered his skin. "Toothless, what did you do to him?" Hiccup growled, turning around to face Grimmel.

"Nothing that he won't sleep off." assured the man before resuming his question. "Hand over your dragon and I will leave Berk alone".

"I said it before, I will never give you Toothless." the chief responded, taking a defensive position over his friend.

Grimmel's face darkened, "the last time someone refused to give me their Nightfury, I ended up slaughtering and entire village" he revealed to the Berkian.

Hiccup gulped as the hunter continued "I'm sure you know of the Berserker Tribe, or what's left of them".

Hiccup gasped "_He's the one who took Heather and my brother from us_".

"I had been tracking a young man and his White Nightfury across the eastern side of the archipelago for nearly five years, when I lost them in a storm. It took me many months but a finally found him on the island of Berserk". Although Hiccup's face remained passive but internally, he was seething.

Grimmel let out a chuckle and continued. "I was shocked when I saw that he was engaged to the Berserk Chieftess but that didn't stop me. I confronted them and when young Frelser refused to turn over his Nightfury, I began killing Berserkers".

Hiccup's face changed into a massive frown. "_He's a monster. He destroyed the entire village_." the chief thought and continued to listen to the intruder.

"The almost newlyweds tried to escape but I shot them down into the sea" Grimmel finished his tale only to see Hiccup quaking in anger.

"How dare you. How dare you come here after what you did" roared the chief. "You destroy our sister village and kill their chieftess. This is Berk and we won't take your aggressions lightly".

A smirk came across Grimmel's face, this is exactly what he wanted. "And so the hunt begins." laughed the man.

Hiccup didn't like Grimmel's reaction and charged the man. The hunter ducked underneath a swipe of Inferno and rolled to where the Nightfury was. "NOOOO" yelled Hiccup as Grimmel pulled the blanket off the dragon's body.

However instead of an unconscious Nightfury, a rather bulky human appeared with Grimmels dart in his arm. "Did we get him chief?" asked the drowsy man.

"What!" a stunned Grimmel asked as more people burst into the room. Valka and Astrid landed next to Hiccup, On the other side of the room the twins, Snotlout, and Gobber appeared, thus trapping the intruder.

"Your surrounded Grimel, now come with us quietly." Hiccup ordered.

"Ha ha ha ha. HAHAHHA" Grimmel laughed darkly, causing Hiccup to raise his guard. "No chief of Berk, It is you who are in trouble". With that the hunter let out a loud whistle.

Suddenly Glupsk burst through the side of the house and set fire to the room. Toothless tried to order the other dragon to stop but the Deathgripper resisted his call. "That's right Alpha, they only listen to me." laughed Grimmel as he continued to fend off attacks from the Berkians. The man swung his cutlass and nearly took off Astrid's head. This sent Hiccup into a frenzy, causing him to swing Inferno madly in an attempt to kill the intruder.

"Why are you worrying about me chief, when you should be worrying about your village." said Grimmel parrying the strikes. Before Hiccup could respond to that, another Deathgripper flew into the house and grabbed Grimmel, lifting the man out of danger. The house the Berkians were in started to crumble.

"Mom we need to get out of here." Hiccup yelled, motioning for his friends to leave. Hiccup made sure that everyone else got out of the burning building but it was collapsing around him. He and his mother had barely been able to escaped the flames relatively unscathed, but what Hiccup saw outside made his stomach turn.

Everywhere he looked was up in flames just as his former home had been. All of Hiccup's hard work was being burned to the ground. Vikings and Dragons alike were desperately trying to put out the blaze that engulfed nearly the entire village. "_I've underestimated him_". thought Hiccup, wide-eyed at the scene in front of him.

Grimmel suddenly hovered above him on his Deathgripper and issued a warning. "Chief of Berk, I will give you two days before I return. Have my Nightfury ready for me on the third morning or everything you cherish will be destroyed." he taunted before flying away from the scene. The smell of ash permeated through the air, giving Hiccup little time to think about what was just said to him. Instead he and Toothless rushed to help put out the remaining fires.

* * *

**So things have taken a dark turn in the story. We learn that Grimmel is responsible for the possible death of Heather and her fiance. It turns **

**out Frelser had a female nightfury and as far as Grimmel and the others know they have perished. So now the famous hunter has set his sights **

**on Berk and issued the chief an ultimatum. What will happen next? Only one way to find out. As always, fave, follow, and review my story. Until **

**next time, Commard out.**


	6. Chapter 5

**Hello everyone and welcome back to another chapter of Destiny is a Fickle Mistress. The world around Hiccup is starting to take as Grimmel attacked Berk. Hiccup now has to make a decision regarding what step to take next. We also learned that the Lightfury seems to belong to Heather's fiance. What will happen next? Only one way to find out.**

"Human Speech"

"_Human thoughts"_

**"Dragon Speech"**

_**"Dragon Thoughts"**_

* * *

The sun broke through the horizon, shining light on the Isle of Berk. However, things were not nearly as bright as the object in the sky. Although no Berkians had died from the fires, several were injured to the point where they would be bed-ridden for a few days. It was the morning after Grimmel had made his threat to Hiccup, burning a large portion of the village in the process. Hiccup had lost his home and with that, the majority of his father's journals. Now he only had a small notebook of varying charts to rely on. The young man was sitting on the charred ruins of his house with his girlfriend while Toothless laid on the ground next to them.

"Babe are you ok?" Astrid asked, resting her head on his shoulder.

Hiccup sighed; he had lost himself during the fight with Grimmel after he saw Astrid nearly get decapitated. The chief believed that If not for his lack of concentration, they would have been able to capture this menace. After all that what Grimmel was, a menace. A menace who had slaughter the Berserker's because Heather's fiancé had a Nightfury. That was something else that didn't make sense. If Heather's fiancé had a Nightfury, why didn't she contact Hiccup to tell them about it, especially after she saw how much Hiccup and Toothless had searched for other Nightfurys while living at the Edge.

"Midgard to Hiccup, are you there?" asked Astrid, shaking her boyfriend from his thoughts.

"Yeah Astrid, I'm just thinking about what has happened with Grimmel." he answered, not even moving his head to look at the blonde-haired beauty.

"_Wow no Milady, this must be serious_" she thought, removing her head from Hiccup's shoulders as he stood up.

"I want you to gather everyone in the Great Hall, we have a decision to make." he ordered. Astrid didn't question her chief and immediately left to spread the word. "I just hope we will be able to make the right decision Bud." the chief said to his dragon.

Said dragon just gave him a sad warble as they got up and headed to the Great Hall. It took nearly an hour for the entirety of Berk to pile into the large room but eventually everyone got there. The Vikings were loud, talking amongst themselves about what had happened last night. "How could this have happened?" one shouted aloud, as Hiccup took the Chief's seat at the table. The chatter continued until he had enough.

"ENOUGH!" he roared, his voice reverberating through the ceiling of the hall. Every Berkian immediately fell silent. They had never heard their chief yell before. Raise his voice sure, but never yell. The fact that he did so now, meant that things were dire and he had something very important to say. "I'm sure all of you noticed that we were attacked last night. The person who did this to us is named Grimmel the Grisly and is after Toothless." Hiccup revealed to his people. Whispers began to fill the hall, some from those who were scared and some from those who wanted to fight.

"What do you want us do Chief? We can't let him take our dragons." Spitlout protested. Others nodded their head in agreement causing Hiccup to feel a sense of pride. After all, it was only 7 years ago that Berk was at war with dragons and would have given all of their gold to get rid of them.

"ALRIGHT LISTEN UP!" yelled the chief, forcing his peers to become silent. "Grimmel will stop at nothing to get to our dragons so we need to disappear completely from the map".

"What do you mean babe?" asked Astrid.

"My dad mentioned something about a Hidden World in his journals. A waterfall at the end of the Earth that kept dragons safe." the Chief began to explain but was then interrupted by Snotlout.

"Come on Hiccup, do you really believe that old myth?" the Jorgenson asked, hoping to the gods that Valka could talk some sense into his cousin. Other Berkians were feeling the same about their chief's idea.

"No it's not just a myth. My father spent nearly his entire adulthood researching this. He has maps and charts already plotted; all we need to do is follow them." Hiccup revealed. Although his mother and Astrid were on board with his plan, his fellow villagers were still doubting him. "Listen I will not have the hard-earned peace we have here be lost. Grimmel will not rest until all of our dragons are his and the rest of Berk is a footnote in history. We have until tomorrow morning to decide, but know this," Hiccup raised his hand in the air and pointed towards Toothless. "I will not let a madman endanger the lives of my people and my best friend". In response to this Toothless let out a massive roar the vibrated throughout the Great Hall. "I hope you join me tonight, when I leave." he ended the speech.

Hiccup then got up from the table and left the Great Hall followed by Toothless, Astrid, and the rest of his friends. He immediately set off to the ruins of his house to see if there was anything salvageable. Although the morning was quiet and full of life, Berk was dark and depressing. "Babe wait up" Astrid called, catching up to her betrothed.

"Milady" Hiccup acknowledged, before continuing to walk towards the charred remains. The young woman grabbed a hold of the chief's arm and spun him around, forcing him to look her in the eye.

"Babe I'm with you till the end but I need you to answer my question". Now that Astrid had his attention, it was time to get a real answer. "Do you truly believe that there is a hidden world out there?" she asked.

The rest of the young adults waited for Hiccup to answer, their own decision regarding Grimmel depending on the chief's. Hiccup sighed; he really didn't like talking about his father since it would just remind him of his failure to stop Drago from harming those he loved. However, in this case he wasn't given much of a choice.

"I do Astrid, I really do." he whispered, causing the young woman across from him to give him a kiss on the lips. Said kiss lasted for several seconds before the duo broke apart.

"I will follow you anywhere. It's like you said babe, there will always be a Hiccup and Astrid". Hiccup nodded as his fiancé then embraced him in a hug. Suddenly they heard a groaning sound. Turning to their left they saw Toothless looking straight at them with a gummy smile on his face. "You too bud. And maybe we will find your girlfriend while we're at it." laughed Hiccup before giving the Nightfury a nice scratch along the head.

After separating from Astrid, the two of them got to work on gathering the necessities they would need for the exodus. Items such as food, furs, and even a small amount of smithing equipment were gathered by Hiccup and put into backs that would go in Toothless's saddle. As the day went on it became apparent that the rest of the Berkians had agreed with their chief's decision, as they too started packing their own necessities for the flight. Hiccup had finished his preparations first, so he and Toothless went down to the stables to help prepare the other dragons for their upcoming journey. A journey whose exact distance remained to be seen. It was nearing sundown when everybody had finished their preparations and had regathered in the Great Hall. Everything of value had been stripped of the walls and shelves. All the precious metals and gold had been taken and. packed tightly, prepared for transport by dragon-back. The entire building was filled with chatter but that immediately stopped once the Vikings noticed that Hiccup had arrived.

"So, has anyone decided to not come with us?" he asked. Looking around the Great Hall, Hiccup did not see a single soul raise their hand to say that they would remain behind. "Tonight is the last night we have on Berk, so thank the gods' for what we have been able to accomplish here and for a safe journey tomorrow".

Everyone remained silent as Gothi and Gobber led them in a prayer. The mood remained somber throughout the rest of the night, as the Vikings enjoyed their last meal on the island. As everything began to wind down, Hiccup had one final announcement to make. "I want everyone in the center of the village tomorrow at Dawn". With that he dismissed everyone from the great hall. It took a while for the Vikings to file out, but they all eventually left the Great Hall. This left only Hiccup, Astrid and Valka inside of the building.

"Babe?" Astrid said, touching her fiancé's shoulder. Hiccup made a grunting noise, as if asking what she was going to ask. "Is there anything special you want to do on our last night here?" she asked. The chief looked at her with his beautiful eyes, eyes as green as the forests themselves.

"Maybe a quick flight around the island." he whispered "For old time's sake".

"Ok Babe" came Astrid's simple response.

The Viking duo grabbed Stormfly and Toothless before taking off into the night sky. The moon and stars above illuminated the island in a light glow, creating a peaceful atmosphere. However, both Hiccup and Astrid knew that this was far from the case. Eventually they landed in the cove, off of Raven Point. Getting off of their dragons, the couple laid on their backs and looked at the stars.

"I can't believe it has been six years." he said aloud. This caused Astrid to turn her head and give her beloved a kiss on the cheek.

"Your right, look at all we have done in that span" she added. Hiccup sighed, enjoying the comfort of his fiancé against him. They sat there in silence for a long time, just enjoying each other's company. Unfortunately, this could not last forever and soon Stormfly squawked over and woke her rider. "Alright girl," Astrid replied, scratching the Nadder beneath the chin. She shook Hiccup, who had dozed off. "Babe we need to get back to the village and go to sleep".

The young chief yawned and stretched. "You go on ahead. Toothless and I will be out for a little longer." he replied. Astrid reminded him that he too needs rest, before taking off on the back of Stormfly. Hiccup and Toothless flew back to the Great Hall, where the young man kneeled in front of a statue. Said statue was one of his father, the late Stoick the Vast. "Am I doing the right thing?" he asked the stone object. "You always said that a chief protects his own. Now that the dragons are a full part of the village, I have to protect them too".

Toothless sat back on his hunches and watched his friend speak to the inanimate object. Hiccup then recalled another time from his childhood where his father had taken him aside by their home's fire. He told him that Berk is not a place but rather the people that make up the village. Protecting those that were part of the idea of Berk meant that Berk would follow him wherever he went. Remembering this little interaction with his father gave Hiccup the answer and drive he needed to leave the island.

"Thanks dad" he said aloud, tapping the statue with his hand. As he turned to walk away with Toothless, Hiccup swore he heard his dad's voice say "You're welcome son". With a conclusion reached, the chief was able to have his first full night of sleep since his father died.

**The Next Morning**

Hiccup awoke before dawn and grabbed everything he needed before loading it on to Toothless. The two of them went to the center of the village and waited for everyone else to arrive. Valka was the first one to arrive, followed shortly by Astrid. Both of them took their place at Hiccups side and remained there. Eventually the rest of Berk got to the center of the village, while Toothless herded the wild dragons to the location as well. Once everyone had arrived Hiccup began his speech.

"Our people arrived on this rock generations ago. They struggled to survive but remained hearty in times of hardship. Eventually a village was built and our ancestors named it Berk." the chief paused, looking at his fellow Vikings. The others were silent, hanging on every word that he said. Since Hiccup had only been chief for a year, he did not have a lot of time to practice for speeches such as this. "Then came the dragons, who we fought for hundreds of years. We were embroiled in a bloody war that had no end in sight. That was until a foolish Viking learned that these replies were not mindless monsters, but instead kind and intelligent creatures. They became our allies and we were able to achieve peace with their aid". Hiccup paused again, allowing everyone to digest what he was saying. When he deemed the pause was long enough, Hiccup continued with his speech. "We've defeated every enemy that has come before us but now someone threatens our very existence. My father once said that Berk is not a place, but rather its people. Now we will carry on that legacy to a new home".

Astrid and Valka nodded along with their chief's speech, while the rest of the Vikings cheered at the soliloquy's conclusion. With that, Hiccup climbed onto Toothless, the rest of the Vikings follow his action by climbing onto their own dragons. With a loud roar, the Nightfury launched into the air. All of the Berkians and wild dragons took off as well to follow their alpha. And so, the Isle of Berk was left without any inhabitants, a sight that he Warlords would stumble upon soon.

**The Next Day**

Grimmel had woken up refreshed and eager to kill the last Nightfury on the planet. He and his Deathgrippers had left the Warlords' camp early to go to Berk. Glupsk, and his human saw the Isle appear on the horizon, which became larger as they approached. However as they got closer, things were not as they appeared. The entire island seemed to be void of people.

"Well I'll be damned. That fishbone had the guts to leave his home." exclaimed the hunter.

Grimmel knew that the Warlords were not going to like this but otherwise this was perfect. A new challenge for him, this time his opponent would be he Berkian Chief. The hunt would begin soon, but first Grimmel would have to deal with the Warlords. After an hour the three warlords finally arrived on the scene. Chag and Ragnar were absolutely furious.

"Grimmel" roared Ragnar, "how could you let them escape". The man rushed forward and threw a punch at Grimmel.

"Ragnar wait!" yelled Chag, however it was too late to stop the action. Grimmel caught Ragnar's arm and hip-tossed him, causing an embarrassing fall to the ground.

"Are you going to listen to what I have to say Ragnar?" the hunter patronized. Ragnar was about to get back up and throw another punch when Griselda read him the riot act over his behavior.

"Grimmel always has a plan so we should at least hear him out" she scolded the man. Ragnar sulked back over to their side as Grimmel then unfurled a map of the archipelago.

"As you all know, the dragons will follow their alpha and knowing that said alpha is a Nightfury gives us a distinct advantage." Grimmel began but was interrupted by Chag.

"Why is that" the mainlander asked, confused as to why the dragon species played a role in their next move.

"Nightfurys have a very difficult time surviving in extreme cold, so they can't go north" the hunter explained, pointing to the northern end of the map. "They can't go south or they will risk running into our forces and they can't go east or they will run into the mainland. So where do they go?" he asked rhetorically.

"_West obviously_" thought Griselda, although she did not say it out loud because it was too obvious. However, the two other Warlords could not come up with a response. When none of the others answered, Grimmel began to get upset.

"It's west you fools, their going west right Grimmel?" she added, exasperated at the whole situation.

"Right Griselda, it's west. So that means if we follow their trail then we will catch up." the hunter responded.

"What time do you want to leave?" asked Ragnar. Grimmel ran a hand through his hair and gave it a thought.

"I'd like to head out in about two hours." he answered.

"Good that will give us time to…" Chag had started to talk but was cut off by the hunter.

"NO, I go alone. You may follow behind but I will engage them alone." Grimmel responded defiantly.

"But Grims, you can't take them all by yourself. Surely you will need us." protested Griselda.

"I'm sorry but this is something I must do alone." the hunter replied somely, before hopping onto Glupsk. "Grab me when your men are prepared to move out". With that the man and his Deathgripper took off and headed to the far side of the island, leaving the warlords alone.

"He is really starting to get on my nerves." Ragnar growled, stretching the arm that Grimmel had thrown him by.

"It's a good thing we are leaving him out of our true plan". Griselda sighed; she didn't want to admit it but Grimmel had changed. Although she still loved the man dearly, Griselda knew that he would never follow their path. The only way that her and Grimmel would be together, would be after every single Nightfury lay dead.

**With Grimmel**

Glupsk and his rider had flown to the far side of the island and were currently taking a walk through the forest. The sun had fully risen, giving the emerald location a beautiful glow. "This reminds me of the forest outside of my old village" Grimmel sighed.

The man patted his Deathgripper who could only look at his rider in sadness, knowing full-well the burden his rider carried. Glupsk could never forgive himself for what happened that night. The night where everything was taken from both of them. He should have known that Nightfurys possessed alpha capabilities but the thought slipped his mind and it cost them nearly everything. The Deathgripper was just as involved in the revenge ploy as his rider but they were both getting up there in age. Glupsk felt that this would be their last hunt before they would retire and eventually join Valhalla. It was at this moment when the duo entered an opening in the forest.

They recognized it as the same one Grimmel had laid the trap for the Alpha on their last visit. However, this time they saw something they had overlooked previously. A glimmer of white caught Grimmel's attention from the far end of the clearing. Walking over to the glimmer he bent down and saw something horrifying. Nestled in the grass were several white scales, the same white scales that had haunted his dreams for two decades, the scales of a white Nightfury.

"No, this can't be. I killed them." an anguished Grimmel said aloud. The memories were starting to come back, the scent of burnt flesh hit his nostrils and the screams of his people filled his ears. He collapsed onto the ground as a panic attack started to settle in. Glupsk went over to his friend and curled around the man protectively, hoping that this would pass. It was at this moment that Griselda entered the clearing.

"Grimmel are you there?" she called out, only seeing Glupsk. It was at that moment when she saw something shift beneath the dragon and knew that something was wrong with Grimmel. The woman approached the Deathgripper and tried to get to the possibly injured man. However, Glupsk growled and spit acid at her feet causing the woman to take a few steps back.

"Glupsk you have to let me help him." she explained.

The Deathgripper gave another growl but eventually conceded and uncurled his body to reveal Grimmel on the ground. Griselda made her way over to the man and placed a hand on his shoulder only for Grimmel to react badly and grab her wrist causing the woman slight pain. Griselda looked up to see tears in the man's eyes, the man who had been so strong since she had known him.

"Grimms what happened?" she asked softly, removing her arm from his grasp.

"It's still alive" he growled.

"What is?" Griselda wondered.

"The daughter of the demon." snapped the hunter. The man opened one of his hands to reveal several white scales to the warlord. Griselda knew that Grimmel only referred to one dragon as the demon. That dragon was the one that exterminated his village long ago.

"How do you know that it is her daughter?" Griselda questioned. The man handed her one of the scales to inspect. Looking closely, the woman saw that the scale had a blue pattern to it as well as the normal white.

"The only White Nightfury I've seen with that pattern on their scales were the demon and her daughter." Grimmel spoke causing Griselda to look back up. "The last time I tried to kill the beast it almost cost me my life. I don't know how I'm going to do it again". The man was then silenced as the warlord put her hand on his shoulder.

"We will do it together, all of us." Griselda spoke causing the man next to her to smile. "I know I can count on you. You're strong and have survived hardships than none of us had to experience". Griselda paused, allowing her words to sink into the man's mind. "So will you cooperate with us in going after the young chief and his dragons"? Grimmel took a deep breath and looked at Glumpsk before returning his attention to the warlord.

"Alright, I'll do it, but I get to kill the Nightfury when we find them". Griselda could only smile at this.

"That's the Grimms I know. What do you say we head back and start the hunt?" she laughed.

The hunter nodded and the duo hopped onto Glupsk who took them back to the docks where the other two warlords were waiting. The four leaders reached an agreement and piled onto the vessels along with Grimmel's Deathgrippers. The hunter theorized that it would take several days to catch up with the Berkian's by boat. He came up with the idea that once they got close enough, he and his dragons would scout the area out. This way the group could come up with a plan of attack before engaging with the young chief and his alpha. With that they pushed off from the Isle of Berk, leaving the jagged landscape behind on the horizon.

"_It's only a matter of time before I finally avenge my family's death._" Grimmel said to himself. The man shuffled the locket underneath his armor. The locket which contained the only remnants of his wife and son. As the sun reached its peak Berk disappeared into the horizon, leaving the warships to sail into uncharted waters.

**Unknown Location**

Heather Berserk was getting worried. Her fiancé Frelser although awake, was still rather ill. He was currently sitting up with his back against the cave wall drinking water. "At least he's up and moving." came a voice from beside her. Heather turned to her right to see her brother Dagur the Deranged and his dragons Shattermaster the Gronckle. The former chief of Berserk had looked everywhere for his sister and her fiancé with the help of his wife Mala, who was currently looking for food with the help of Sleuther the Triple Stryke. They had found them about a month ago and had been living in this strange place ever since. The humans were unable to leave the confines of this world due to a strange storm. Only Frelser's dragon could pass through the field and get to the outside. Frelser gulped the last drop of water before handing the skin back to Heather.

"Thank you so much for the water love. I was parched." he let out. However, the man started coughing uncontrollably and a small speck of blood came out of his mouth.

"Babe you really need to slow down" protested Heather, pushing the man back to a sitting position. "We don't want you aggravating whatever is making you ill". the young man sighed and laid back down, only to hear the flapping of wings. Suddenly Mala and Sleuther came barreling through the waterfall.

"Mala what's going on?" her husband asked, concerned at the frantic pace at which they arrived.

"You have to see what we found." came the woman's simple response "It's something that could shake the foundation of our very way of life". Everyone else, including Frelser didn't say a word despite the pain he was in, got up to follow the woman.

* * *

**With that the fifth "official" chapter comes to a close. Hiccup made the choice to leave Berk causing a giant stir amongst his fellow vikings. **

**However everything worked out and they all left with him. Meanwhile, there appears to be a little in-fighting among the Warlords and Griselda **

**seems to still harbor feelings for Grimmel but will it be enough to tell him about their true plan. I wonder how that will work out? Finally what **

**did Mala discover? There is only one way to find out. As ****always, fave, follow, and review. Until next time, Commard out.**


	7. Chapter 6

**Hello everyone. I'm back with another chapter of Destiny is a Fickle Mistress. It's been awhile but life has gotten in the way, so I apologize for updating later than normal. The story is about to really take off and I'm and looking forward to all of your reactions. But enough about that, let's get started.**

"Human Speech"

_"Human Thoughts"_

**"Dragon Speech"**

_**"Dragon Thoughts"**_

* * *

The Berkians were flying above the blue ocean with the sun shining high in the sky. It had been nearly a day and a half since they left the Isle of Berk in order to escape from Grimmel the Grisly. Hiccup and Toothless led the group and were not tired but they noticed the others were. Barf and Belch's heads were starting to slump, Hookfang and Meatlug looked exhausted as well.

"Hiccup we need to stop soon. The others are getting tired." Valka told her son. Cloudjumper seemed to be fine but Hiccup knew that he had to find a place to stop for his people.

"I know mom, I'm looking for a good place to land." the chief responded. The young man peered through the clouds and saw something appear through the white wisps. "Over here everyone." Hiccup called out. The other Vikings heard this and followed their chief through the clouds to a clear sky where they saw an island come into view. The island was astonishing, it had large cliffs with nice grassy fields and giant forests. The Berkians landed on the plateau and Hiccup gave his people time to settle down.

"This is amazing." Ruffnut said aloud.

"I know right. It's so much better than Berk." Tuffnut concurred.

"Look, these rocks are perfect for Gronckle's." Fishlegs explained, pointing towards a large boulder. Fishmeat popped out of his backpack and began to snack on said boulder, thus proving the man right.

Hiccup didn't like where this was going and immediately sprung to action. "This isn't permanent so don't get comfortable." he yelled out, catching everyone's attention.

"But why not?" asked Snotlout, scratching Hookfang's chin.

"Yeah, why not?" Gobber questioned. The man had already set up a space for his future forge and was not looking forward to moving any time soon.

"Did you all forget why we left Berk in the first place?" roared the chief. Hiccup was fuming "We don't want to put our dragons in any more danger". The rest of the Vikings put on very sad faces and looked as if they were going to cry. Astrid being the woman that she is approached her fiancé.

"Maybe we should at least stay for the night. Look at them, they're about ready to drop." she pointed towards their friends. As if to prove the woman's point, Snotlout collapsed onto the ground. Hiccup looked at his people, then to Astrid, then back at his people. Finally he let out a sigh.

"Alright I guess we can stay". Everyone started to cheer. Vikings were throwing their hands in the air with joy. This was immediately silenced by the chief. "Just for the night, we leave tomorrow at noon". Astrid let out a small chuckle and kissed her fiancé on the lips.

"Thanks Babe." she whispered, before heading off to tend to Stormfly.

As everyone else was setting up their campsite Hiccup decided to get something done for Toothless. The chief had been thinking about this for a while and came to the conclusion that Toothless needed a way to get around on his on for several reasons. The first reason being if the duo were ever separated from each other during a battle and the second was so he could court his new girlfriend. Hiccup was not oblivious to how Toothless interacted with the Lightfury when she visited Berk. This was the least he could do for the one who changed his life for the better. The Nightfury watched as his human friend designed a new tailfin, one that was supposed to allow him to fly on his own. After several hours he saw Hiccup approach him with the new model.

"Alright bud, hold still so I can get this synced in." said, the chief, removing the fake tail from his dragon's body. After several minutes of work, Toothless had the new the tail cinched in place and began to play with it.

"**Wow it's perfect**" the dragon exclaimed (not that Hiccup could understand him).

"Why don't you give it a try bud?" Hiccup offered, taking a step back to allow his friend some room. The dragon tested the tail with his other fin and took off into the sky.

"**Amazing, it's like I never lost my tailfin**" the Nightfury exclaimed as he continued to climb higher and higher. Soaring thru the clouds and back down the sides of the cliff, the dragon eventually pulled up and skimmed over the surface of the ocean. The young chief stood at the edge of the cliff and watched as his dragon continued to glide along the water. He then felt a comforting hand get placed on his shoulder.

"He's magnificent isn't he son" the now revealed Valka said aloud. Hiccup sighed, "Yes he really is." the young man responded. Although his mother tried to have a conversation with him, Hiccup's mind was elsewhere. He was currently thinking about how to get Toothless to meet the Lightfury. "Son… Son are you in there." came his mother's voice. Hiccup shook his head to get rid of the thoughts and his attention snapped back to his mother.

"I'm sorry mom, what did you say"?

"I said we are going to need someone to head back and make sure that we weren't followed" Valka repeated. "I volunteered to do so, along with Eret".

Hiccup's eyes widened at this, he knew that Eret would volunteer since he has experience with dragon hunters and wanted to gain a greater station in the village. But his mother? The young man immediately tried to prevent his mother from taking on this mission. However, the matriarch would not be denied and told her son that it was his duty to protect the people of Berk and that this is something that she would be best suited for. It was at this moment when Toothless decided to land next to his friend and give the young man a large lick.

"Toothless really" Hiccup whined.

Valka broke out in laughter from the scene. She was so proud of her son and how he had taken charge of the village after her husband's death. She knew that if anything happened to her Berk would be in good hands. Eret soon joined the pair of Vikings an informed Valka that it was time to leave. Hiccup didn't want his mother to endanger herself but he knew that he couldn't stop her. So he gave her one last hug and watched the two of them fly off into the distance.

"**Do you think they will be ok?**" Toothless asked, although this came out to Hiccup as a gummy moan.

"I hope they will be ok bud. They are both very careful Vikings, so I'm not too worried." the chief said in response. However he didn't know if he truly believed the words that came out of his mouth. He decided that it was time to head to camp and grab some dinner. toothless followed along and they ran into Astrid and the others.

"Hey chief where have yah been?" asked Tuff, who was currently slurping on some stew.

"I was making a new tail for Toothless, one that he could control on his own." came the young man's response". Hiccup took a bowl of stew from Gobber and thanked him, sitting down next to his fiancé.

"So tell us." Snotlout prodded, setting his finished stew aside.

"Tell you what"?

"Did the tail work?" added Fishlegs, wanting to know every detail of his chief's new design.

The Auburn-haired man sighed "It went well, better than I could have ever expected." the chief explained. He went on to tell his friends about how freely Toothless moved in the air without him.

"That's great Babe." exclaimed Astrid who slugged her fiancé in the arm.

"Yes, it is." the young man said softly. His friends noticed that he was not acting like himself.

"Hiccup tell us what's wrong." Ruff practically ordered, shocking the others as the girl rarely raised her voice.

"It's just that Toothless was doing so well without me. He might forget about me if he finds the Lightfury." the chief revealed what he was thinking.

"Babe that is ridiculous. Toothless would never forget about you." Astrid assured him. Hiccup knew that she was right, but something continued to nag him. Eventually the sun had receded past the horizon, and night settled on the Berkian's camp. Hiccup entered his tent and looked at the remnants of his father's journals. The only thing he was able to find was something about how humans and dragons were as close as they were with the Berkians.

"_I'm surprised dad didn't at least try to reason with the dragons if he had this information_" the chief thought "_Then again he was stubborn and extremely set in the old ways_". The young man was shaken from his musings as Toothless curled up beside him on the ground. "Sooner or later we will find her bud. You won't have to be alone any longer." he whispered, scratching the dragon's ears. The Nightfury let out a moan of satisfaction, before drifting off to sleep. "I wish it was that easy Toothless." Hiccup let out a soft chuckle. He had come so far in life and it was all thanks to this dragon. He couldn't stand the idea of losing Toothless. "Don't worry bud, I will always protect you." the chief let out. Eventually sleep did manage to overtake Hiccup but it was not a good one. Deep inside the confines of his mind, Hiccup was experiencing a very interesting dream.

**Hiccup's Dreamscape**

Hiccup was on a beach, back at the Edge. The chief could see the clubhouse as well as all of his friends. They looked younger; about the age they were when the Berkians first got to the Edge. He could see their dragons zipping around and playing with one another. Hiccup and his friends were all laughing and enjoying dinner. The twins were going about with their antics while Snotlout huffed and puffed with pride about his accomplishments. Fishlegs was busy translating the Dragon's Eye, while Heather looked on. Astrid and a younger Hiccup held hands and were chatting about their day's work.

"It's peaceful isn't it." a voice whispered to the adult Hiccup. The chief turned his head but found no one there. "Vikings and Dragons together as one" the voice said, "It's a shame that peace doesn't last forever".

Suddenly the clubhouse exploded in flames, causing the younger Vikings to run in terror. Several Deathgrippers immediately came down from the sky and attacked the teenagers. The chief tried to move and help but he was simply frozen in place. Snotlout and Fishlegs were the first to fall victim to the deadly dragons as they bought time for the younger Hiccup to allow Toothless to escape. Soon the twins were killed as well, leaving just Heather, Astrid and the young Hiccup as the only ones left alive. Older Hiccup finally was able to move and rushed over to his deceased friends. However, when he went to put his hand on them to check their pulse, the young chief found that it went right through their bodies. Older Hiccup turned his attention back to the three remaining Vikings who were fighting a masked man valiantly. Unfortunately, Heather was soon overwhelmed and stabbed through the gut. The masked man was then able to trap both remaining Vikings and bind them with rope.

"So young chief, do you doubt my power now." the masked man taunted as he dragged his two prisoners over to where the older Hiccup was. Hiccup tried to punch the man but his body went right through the killer. The masked man only laughed but then removed said mask to reveal himself to be Grimmel. "So Hicc-up what will you do when I kill your beloved." he taunted, pulling out his sword and putting it to Astrid's throat. The young teen looked absolutely horrified and the others could see the fear of death in her eyes, something that one would normally not associate with Astrid Hofferson. Both younger and older Hiccup begged and pleaded with the hunter, but the man just cackled madly. "All of this could have been avoided if you had just given me your Nightfury". He then slit her throat.

**Real World**

"NOOOOOOOOO!" yelled Hiccup as he sat up in his tent, now awake from sleep. His body was drenched in sweat and tears were coming down the side of his face. His screaming had woken Toothless who was now looking at his friend with concern.

"**Are you alright?**" the dragon grumbled. It was at this moment that Astrid came into his tent.

"Babe what happened? Your screaming woke us up." the woman asked approaching her fiancé. Hiccup's only reply was to engage Astrid in a deep kiss. Although the young lady wasn't expecting it, she accepted the kiss and returned it with eagerness. Eventually they broke apart allowing Astrid to ask what happened.

"I had a nightmare." the chief revealed. Hiccup told Astrid about what had happened in his dream and the warning that was implied.

"That's not going to happen Hiccup. It's just a dream." Astrid tried to comfort him.

"It may be a message from the gods." he protested, only to be shot down by a glare.

"Since when have you believed in omens?" she chuckled.

Hiccup let out a soft laugh, "I don't but that doesn't mean I shouldn't worry milady". Astrid gave her fiancé a soft punch to the arm at his snarky remark.

"Since your feeling better, I should head back to bed." said the woman. Astrid tried to get up and leave only for her wrist to be caught by the young chief.

"Please stay the night, I don't think I can go to sleep without you in my arms." he pleaded.

The young lady sighed "You know we aren't supposed to be in the same bed till after were married right?" she said aloud. Hiccup explained that he didn't care and he just wanted her to be with him. Astrid got into the furs and snuggled up against her fiancé's naked chest. "Good night babe." she kissed his cheek.

"Goodnight milady" Hiccup whispered back. Both of the Vikings drifted off into the blissful state of sleep, ready to meet the challenges that that the gods would throw at them, together.

**Warlords' Vessel**

Grimmel was eating dinner with the Warlords in the main cabin of their flagship and he was rather impressed with how much they had changed things since he left their little group. They had upgraded the ships and the cages, no longer were they held together with mere wood and metal. Even though a lot of their men were killed during Drago's failed attempt at taking Berk, the Warlords still employed over 1000 Vikings. Said Vikings were currently helping the fleet of 80 ships run smoothly as the vessels cut through the stormy seas. However the storm had blown them off course and it would take a few days to get back on schedule. The former chief was shaken from his thoughts by Ragnar.

"So Grimmel do you have any stories from hunting Nightfury's?" asked the man. The other Warlords stopped eating and looked at the duo, waiting in baited breath for Grimmel to share his dragon-slaying knowledge. The former chief to a long swig of his wine, soaking in the attention of the three warlords.

"I will tell you that Nightfury's are probably the most dangerous dragons in the world" he said aloud. Ragnar was about to interrupt, but was silenced by Chag. "Despite their size, adult Nightfury have more firepower ounce-for-ounce than any other dragon. This along with their intelligence and speed make them the most dangerous dragon you could come across." the man revealed. "I've fought countless and I learned that to beat them you have to slow them down".

"How do you do that?" asked Chag.

"You've all seen the darts I use." Grimmel began. "They each contain a portion of my Deathgrippers' venom. Enough so that it can knock a Nightfury out for up to 6 hours". Griselda realized the potential for such a weapon and tucked away that bit of information in the back of her mind.

"How do you make these darts?" questioned Chag.

"I won't tell you how their made, but I will tell you that the entire process can take over three hours to create a set of 24." the former chief revealed.

The other Vikings at the table. knew that it would be a long task, but they figured that their underlings would do it for them. All they would have to do is get the process out of Grimmel, one way or another. Eventually the Warlords all returned to their own cabins, leaving Grimmel to his own devices. The inebriated man made his way back to his own cabin with the help of Glupsk. Once there, he began to reminisce about his time with the Warlords.

**Flashback,**

It had been about a year since the death of his wife and a much younger Grimmel had recently enlisted to help Drago capture dragons for his supposed "Dragon Army". He had met three other motivated recruits in the form of Griselda, Ragnar, and Chag. Together, the four of them quickly rose through the ranks, capturing every dragon they could for Drago. In the span of two years they all went from simple minions to generals of Drago's army. Along with that, Grimmel and Griselda had become rather close to one another. She may never replace what he had lost in Salva, but she definitely was both strong and beautiful.

However, despite all of their success Grimmel was not really happy with his current position. Even though he had killed several Nightfury's, Drago was keen with holding him back and he was not nice about it. He was cornered multiple times by the large man and berated for going off-plan, even though his alterations brought in more dragons. It was beginning to not be worth the trouble for him. Alas he would have to do something about the situation. It was a calm night and the group of four were eating in Grimmel's tent. They usually rotate around whose tent they would eat and discuss strategy in.

"Another successful raid aye." exclaimed Chag as he bit into a piece of yak-roast.

"Indeed it was, but there was something that happened that we do need to talk about." Griselda said. Chag and her had seen Drago rip into Grimmel, and it made them feel rather conflicted. "Grimm's you need to tell us what happened with Drago." she prodded.

"Why, what happened with Drago?" Ragnar asked, his attention now full on the conversation at hand. Grimmel took a deep breath, he really didn't want to bring it up but since they were asking, he decided to tell them.

"Whenever I go off on my own, he berates me alone and I'm getting sick and tired of it." the man explained.

"Are you going to do anything about it?" asked Chag. The man from the east was all for different types of bloodshed, as long as it didn't involve him.

"Next time it happens I am going to challenge him to a duel" the former chief let out. This caused his friends' faces to pale. Drago was an intimidating fighter, his sheer strength helped him overwhelm others and any weakness that his opponents had.

"You'll never be able to beat Drago." Ragnar spoke up.

"Well I'm glad my friends have so much confidence in me." Grimmel chuckled darkly.

"It's not that we don't believe in you, Drago has never been pushed before in any spar." Chag added.

"Griselda" Grimmel looked on with pleading eyes; Hoping that his closest friend would support him.

"I'm sorry Grimms, but I agree with them." she said sadly. The features on the man's face turned sour. The others took it as their cue to leave and they did so. Grimmel was left alone, so he decided to get to work on planning his challenge.

After the next raid, the crew had arrived back to camp with fewer dragons than usual. The other hunters were not looking forward to Drago finding out that their catch was so small. "WHY DID YOU BRING BACK SO LITTLE." roared the leader.

Drago stepped in the middle of the group and began to berate them for their performance. Although he didn't strike anyone, some of his comments were very inappropriate, especially towards Griselda. The woman was practically on the verge of tears, but she knew that she had nowhere else to go and had to take it. Eventually Drago got to Grimmel. The young man had not said a word since the berating started but he was ready this time.

"And finally we get to Grimmel. You always disobey the plan. This time it led your group to not fulfilling your quota." Drago began. The man started to circle Grimmel, his eyes never leaving the former chief. "You're a failure" Drago leaned in close, "that's why your wife and son are dead". It was at this moment Grimmel struck, punching the man taunting him right in the face. Drago fell back onto the ground and put a hand over his eye. "How dare you" he growled, only to be interrupted by Grimmel who raised his voice.

"NO, HOW DARE YOU. I'VE CAPTURED MORE DRAGONS THAN ANYONE HERE AND WHAT IS MY REWARD? TO BE MOCKED BY YOU FOR A JOB WELL DONE." The rest of his team watched their friend rip into Drago with awe. "I challenge you to a duel, death by combat". Everyone else gasped, no one had ever spoken back to Drago before or at least lived to tell others about it. Said man now stood up and faced Grimmel, taking a step forward he growled.

"So, you think you have what it takes to defeat me toothpick?". He then let out a deep laugh almost as if dismissing the idea.

"I don't think so, I know so." came the response as the former chief stepped forward.

"Tomorrow at dawn." said the behemoth.

"Of course." came Grimmel's simple response.

The former chief then went back to his tent to prepare for the next morning, despite the pleas of his friends not to. There was even a particularly nasty confrontation between Griselda and him which resulted in the woman blaming Grimmel's pride and fearlessness for his family's death. Grimmel had snapped at her and nearly choked her but Glupsk was able to prevent the man from doing so. All in all, there was now a distrust between the two.

"It_ doesn't matter, tomorrow this will all be over_" the former chief thought.

He decided to get a good night's sleep since tomorrow was going to be an important day. His plan was set and if everything went right, they would all be free of Drago's iron fist. And so he drifted off to sleep, Glupsk curled up beside his friend, making sure that no one came to harm Grimmel while he slept. The next morning Grimmel arrived at the arena, which was packed with people all waiting to see some blood. He approached the entrance prepped and ready but was confronted by Griselda.

"Grimmel you don't have to do this." she pleaded, desperately hoping she got through to the man. "You can stop now and run away from here". Grimmel snorted at her and pushed through. "Fine be like that, I guess we're no longer friends." Griselda added. The man turned around and gave her an intimidating look.

"We stopped being friends when you stopped believing in me." he returned before stepping out into the arena. Cheers went up as the two men met in the middle of the ring.

"Are you ready to die fishbone?" Drago taunted.

"No I'm ready to kill." came the response from Grimmel. With a roar, Drago launched himself at the smaller man, attempting to bash him in the head with his Bullhook. Grimmel brought his sword up and blocked the blow, causing a gasp from the crowd. Grimmel's former friends watched as the men continued to engage each other.

"Your weak." Drago grunted, his strike just missing the other man's head.

"You have no honor." Grimmel countered, slicing his sword upward and catching a few locks of Drago's hair.

The behemoth noticed this and increased his ferocity, whipping his weapon back and forth in an attempt to cave his opponent's skull. Grimmel was faster and raised his sword to block the strike once more. The duel lasted for nearly ten minutes, each man pressing the advantage but being thwarted in their attempt to harm one another. However things became clear that Grimmel was starting to tire Drago out. The massive man was used to winning battles very quickly and not familiar with fighting one opponent long. Drago felt his weapon become slightly heavier and that was all Grimmel needed. The former chief swung his blade upward and knocked the bullhook clean out of the larger man's grasp. The trajectory of his attack continued and the sword went right through Drago's upper arm, severing the limb completely. Said man let out a horrifying scream and collapsed onto the ground.

"Now then, what should I do with you?" Grimmel taunted. The man placed his foot on his opponent's chest and forced the loser onto his back.

"No, stay away" Drago pleaded, something that his army never heard before. Grimmel raised his sword above his head, preparing to give the killing blow. The defeated Drago closed his eyes and waited for more pain, only to hear a loud clang next to him. The behemoth opened his eyes to see that Grimmel had put his sword back into its sheath.

"I'm not like you." the Blonde growled, before retreating towards the exit of the arena. That was the last thing Drago heard before passing out from blood-loss. Grimmel's former friends went to comfort him as he excited the arena but the man silenced them by putting a hand up. "I know that you will try to get me to stay, but I can't." The man revealed. "I need to get back to my true purpose and finish off the Nightfurys. Besides, with proper treatment Drago with survive his wound and will not want me around".

"When will we see you again?" Griselda asked, hoping for some way to rekindle the relationship that she had ruined. Grimmel sighed and looked at the horizon. The sun had finally poked at past the edge and basked the camp in its golden rays, creating a beautiful scene.

"Once I kill every one of those devils." the man revealed. Glupsk and the other Deathgrippers landed and picked up their friend. The three generals could only watch as the dragons and their leader launched into the sky and flew off in the distance.

**Back To Present**

Grimmel had now dosed off to sleep. The idea that his revenge would finally be complete comforted him along with the fact that he was finally back with his friends. However, he had no idea what the Warlords truly had in store for the Archipelago and more importantly him.

**How did I do? Toothless can now fly on his own but tthings aren't so great. Hiccup is having nightmares about what could happen to all of them. Will they come true? Who knows. We also got a look at Grimmel's past with the Warlords and Drago, showing that he is more than just a mindless hunter consumed by revenge. I look forward to updating again. As always, fave, follow, and review. Until next time, Commard out.**


	8. Chapter 7

**Hello Everyone, I'm back with another chapter of Destiny is a Fickle Mistress. Last time we left off, we learned a bit about Grimmel's past with **

**Drago and what caused the schism in his relationship with the Warlords. We also saw that Eret and Valka went back to make sure that the **

**Warlords didn't follow the Berkians to their new home. Now that thhe introduction is over with, let us begin the next chapter.**

"Human Speech"

_"Human Thoughts"_

**"Dragon Speech"**

_**"Dragon Thoughts"**_

* * *

Hiccup woke up feeling refreshed. The young man opened his tent and another beautiful day greeted him. The sun was out in full force but there weren't many clouds. All in all, it was a great day. Astrid then left his tent to get dressed for the day's work, while Hiccup checked on everyone to make sure that they were ok. Toothless was following him around but suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"What's wrong bud?" Hiccup asked his friend.

The dragon listened closely and heard a soft but familiar whistle. "**She's Back**." Toothless exclaimed and immediately started to drift towards the forest where said whistle was coming from.

"Hey wait up." the chief called out, running after his friend. Astrid noticed her fiancé run into the forest and immediately took off after him. As Hiccup got further into the forest, he began to hear the whistle as well. "_The Lightfury must be back_" he reasoned as the sound was familiar to him.

The chief was excited for the possibility that his friend would finally get a partner. Astrid soon caught up to him and the duo eventually found Toothless at the top off a small hill that led to a beach. At the bottom of the hill in the ocean the Lightfury had caught several fish and was eating them. The Vikings hid behind the mound of sand so that the Lightfury wouldn't see them and get scared off.

"Bud go to her" Hiccup practically pushed the Nightfury.

"**I'm picking the right moment.**" Toothless warbled. The dragon let out a small grumble, causing the Lightfury to look up and see him. The male took a step and began to walk down the steep hill.

"**Nice to see you again Hotstuff**." the female said aloud. This caught Toothless off guard, causing him to stumble and roll down the rest of the hill, right past the object of his attention. Hiccup could only place his hand to his face, feeling embarrassed for his friend. The dragon slid past the Lightfury before finally coming to a stop. "**Are you okay**?" the female asked, putting her head towards the fallen dragon.

"**Just peachy**." came Toothless's response as he pulled himself off the ground. Hiccup gave a motion for Toothless to show off to the Lightfury.

The Nightfury grumbled, "**My human friend wants me to try and dance around and woo you**." he revealed to the female. The look on the Lightfury said it all.

"**They can be pretty embarrassing at times yes**" the female snorted out in laughter. Hiccup and Astrid watched as Toothless began to prance around the Lightfury, only for her to smack him down with her paw.

"**Enough of that hotstuff, why don't you try and show me what you picked up from these humans**." she said.

"**I know the perfect thing**." the Nightfury responded. Going over a tiny bit, Toothless picked up a log and began drawing in the sand. The female watched as the Nightfury formed a picture in the coarse ground. It was eventually revealed to be a drawing of her.

"Oh now you can draw" Hiccup said to himself and Astrid, causing a small laugh to come from his fiancé. Meanwhile Toothless motioned for the female's approval.

"**It's lovely, I see that you picked up some of your human's skills**." the female told him.

"**How did you know that my friend was good at drawing?**" he asked, now suspicious of his fellow dragon.

"**Follow me and find out hotstuff**" With that, The Lightfury launched into the air. Toothless looked back towards Hiccup for any response. His friend motioned for him to go follow the female. Toothless happily obliged and took off into the sky to follow the Lightfury. Hiccup felt Astrid's hand on his shoulder.

"I'm surprised your letting him go alone Babe. Aren't you a little worried about Grimmel?" she asked him.

The chief looked at her with his beautiful green eyes and responded "Grimmel is at least several days away. Besides, he should court her alone. He doesn't need me to drag him down". Astrid couldn't see any flaws in Hiccup's logic and decided to go along with it. "Besides Milady, we need to get to work and start rounding things up for when Grimmel does arrive".

Astrid nodded and followed her fiancé, who pulled himself off the ground and started to walk back towards the camp. "_I hope you get her Toothless_" Astrid said to herself as the duo made their way back to the village. The pair eventually arrived back to camp and were confronted by Gobber.

"So where is Toothless?" he asked, having noticed the dragon no longer with them.

"He's on a date with his girlfriend." Astrid laughed.

"Is that why you built him that new tail?" the blacksmith questioned his former apprentice.

"Well sure, but only when he goes on dates. I will switch it back to his normal tail when he gets back so I can fly with him." came Hiccup's response. Astrid and Gobber gaped at this statement.

"Hiccup you can't use Toothless as a crutch" Astrid retorted.

"What do you mean by that?" the Chief growled.

"Lad what she means is that ye shouldn't make Toothless suffer for something you don't want to happen." Gobber tried to get his point across.

Hiccup could only stare at them in disbelief. How could they even insinuate that he would do such a thing to his best friend. Without a word he ran off, leaving Gobber and Astrid to head after him. Astrid debated using Stormfly to help them catch up to Hiccup but she decided to allow her fiancé time to digest what they had just told him.

"_Hopefully he will see the reason in what we said_" Astrid thought, looking out into the horizon where Toothless and the Lightfury had disappeared to.

**With Toothless**

Toothless was soaring freely through the atmosphere and caught up to the female Lightfury. Said female turned her head and saw the Nightfury approaching and let out a soft rumble in satisfaction. "**I'm here, so could you at least tell me your name**?" the male dragon asked, because if he was going through all these supposed hoops, she should at least have the courtesy to do so.

"**My mother named me Luna after the great night sphere above**." the female explained. "**I have told you my name, what is yours**".

"**My human calls me Toothless because of our retractable teeth. I don't remember my parents' name for me because I was subdued by a Red Death for about six years.**" the Nightfury revealed, shocking Luna.

"**I'm sorry you had to endure that.**" the Lightfury responded. Toothless shrugged the unhappiness aside and explained how his human rescued him long ago. "**Well it seems that your tail was fixed**." Luna observed.

"**Yeah, Hiccup was able to make one that allowed me to fly on my own**." Toothless responded.

"**What do you say, should we test it out?**" Luna rhetorically asked, before taking off at a faster speed.

"**Oh your on**." chuckled the Nightfury, who sped off after the object of his affection. The two dragons raced across the sky, farther out towards the horizon and away from where the Vikings had set up shop. Eventually the duo tired out and came to a slow glide along the clouds. "**How was I**?" Toothless asked, hoping he had impressed Luna.

"**You were really good Hotstuff**." the Lightfury responded. "**But can you do this**"? Luna let a plasma blast loose in front of her before flying straight through said blast. Toothless's eyes widened and his mouth gaped as Luna seemingly disappeared in a white cloud.

"**gods that's incredible."** he said aloud, "**Where are you Luna**?"

The female reappeared from behind one of the clouds, seemingly flaunting her abilities. "**Here I am Hotstuff**." she responding, gliding back over to Toothless's side. Luna asked him if he was impressed and the Nightfury could only nod his head in disbelief. "**Would you like to know how I did it**?" Luna asked the male dragon.

Toothless immediately wanted to know how she performed such a maneuver to seemingly disappear in front of him. The female dragon revealed the secret of this technique. It was something her mother had taught her when she was a young hatchling so that she could hide from humans who would want to hurt her. Toothless took this technique and began to try it out himself. Although it took him awhile to get it down, the Nightfury was eventually able to perform the technique on command. As this was going on, Luna was observing Toothless in action and was licking her lips.

"**_He's so handsome and strong_**." she thought, looking on as the Nightfury performed the technique again. "**_If we can get rid of the bad man then maybe I can convince him to settle down and become my mate_**". Ever since her mother was killed by that hunter, Luna thought she would never have the chance to raise a nest. The hunter would follow her wherever she went and would not stop unless he was killed. With another Nightfury here, there would finally be an opportunity to get rid of the evil man once and for all. Hopefully this would end all of the struggling she and her friend have gone through. "**_However I will first need to show Toothless the way to the Original Home_****.**" she reasoned, before whistling at said dragon to get his attention. The male came flying over.

"**I finally got comfortable with it**." he explained, doing the maneuver in front of her.

"**That's awesome Hotstuff but there is something important I need to show you**." Luna replied. Toothless asked what she was going to show him but the female would not budge or reveal the location. The Nightfury flew alongside the female as they flew further and further out over the sea. The duo slowed down to a near halt and Toothless nearly gasped. Below them appeared to be a giant waterfall.

"**_A waterfall in the middle of the ocean?_**" Toothless wondered. In his years of traveling with Hiccup the dragon had seen waterfalls before and knew what they were, but they had never seen one in the middle of the ocean. "**_How is this even possible_**". Toothless was shaken from his thoughts by Luna who had nuzzled his neck with her head.

This action stimulated the Nightfury's secret spot and caused him to lull into a state of unconsciousness. Luna grabbed onto the dragon's torso and dragged him down inside of the waterfall and into the Original Home. The female carried the sleeping Nightfury through the beautiful caverns filled with crystals, passing other dragons who noticed that a second alpha had arrived in their home. Several of the dragons who knew about the supposed prophecy followed the furys' path. It took nearly ten minutes of flying through the many different caverns but Luna finally arrived at where she wanted to go.

"Luna your back." a human voice called from inside a small outcove. The white dragon turned her head and saw Heather run up to her. Heather gasped as she saw that her fiancé's dragon brought Toothless with her and he seemed relatively unharmed.

"**Where is Frelser**?" the female asked, hoping that her friend was ok as she had not seen him in nearly a week. Heather got this gist of what Luna warbled and informed her that he was simply resting right now. It was at this moment when Toothless stirred and opened his eyes. The Nightfury was immediately hit with new scents and sights he had never experienced before. It was then he remembered what happened. Luna had hit his sensitive spot and had left him vulnerable, something he was not used to.

"**Luna what was the meaning off**…" Toothless's rant was cut short as he saw the raven-haired Viking in front of him. "**Heather your alive.**" he exclaimed rushing forward and nearly tackling the poor woman to the ground. Said girl was being licked by the very excited dragon.

"It's good to see you too Toothless." Heather laughed, embracing the dragon. Eventually she managed to calm the Nightfury down and motioned for the dragon to follow her and Luna.

"**Hotstuff, there is something important we need to show you**." the female dragon let out. Toothless didn't know what this was about but he did know that neither of the beings in front of him would give him much of a choice.

**With Eret and Valka**

Eret son of Eret was enjoying his time on Berk. It had been a year since he had left Drago and his life had never been better. The man had used his experience as a dragon wrangler to help the chief improve the lives of his people and gain station in the village. He didn't like to classify himself as a suck-up but that is exactly what he was doing right now. Hiccup had yet to choose a person in command after himself and Valka, so Eret was trying his hardest to win the favor of the woman so that he would be chosen for the position. There was no malicious intent behind his actions, as he was just trying to do right by the people who gave him a chance at redemption. And that lead him to volunteer to head back with Valka and scout to see if any of the Warlords or Grimmel followed them. Eret felt that his experience in hunting dragons would help the duo conceal themselves from any ships trying to find them. Valka agreed with this statement and that is why she chose him over Snotlout. The woman had made the decision to partake in this mission because she felt the stress that Hiccup was enduring as chief. Valka knew that she had to make it up to her son for leaving him alone with Stoick for nearly 20 years. She felt that it was her duty as the chief's advisor (as well as his mother) to help the village and her son in any way she could.

Eret, Skullcrusher, Cloudjumper and herself were flying through a cloudy night. They made sure to stick to the mist so that they wouldn't be seen by any ships below. So far, they had not come across any but they were willing go for a bit longer before landing for the night. Taking in the scent of the mist coming off the ocean, Valka checked up with her wingman

"Eret do you see anything below" the woman asked, as Cloudjumper drifted over towards Skullcrusher. The man peered through the clouds to try and see if there was any sign of ships. Dragon hunting ships always had their torches lit so they wouldn't run into each other and night and risk their quarry escaping from their cages. The man could not see any of these indicators in the sea below.

"Not right now, but we still need to go a bit farther to see if they had been blown of track by the storm." came Eret's conclusion. Valka sighed; she really didn't want to leave anything up to chance so she came to the conclusion to fly for another hour. With a quick whistle, Cloudjumper continued to fly through the foggy night sky. As they got further through the thick cloud Valka began to done her armor and scepter in case things went awry. After nearly an hour of flying Valka and Eret both deemed that the Warlords and Grimmel had lost their trail. They were about to turn back when Valka heard a sharp whistle.

**Down Below: Several Minutes Earlier**

Grimmel was on the Warlords' ship and outside on the deck. The man peered through the foggy night, searching for any sign of the Berkians. His launcher was fitted with a mesh net. which dragons could not melt with their flames. All in all, he was prepared for any stragglers that the fleet might encounter. While the rest of the fleet was busy prepping cages and organizing their weapons, he was at the helm scouting and planning. Despite not really wanting to be in the presence of the Warlords, he knew that they would help him get his vengeance.

"_It's a temporary partnership, maybe they will finally apologize for what they did to me._" Grimmel told himself, as the door to the ship's cabin was opened. It was at this moment that Griselda approached him from said door. "What do you want Griselda?" he asked, not even turning to face her. The woman looked upon the man with a rather sad expression on her face. Ever since Grimmel had answered their summon, she had been trying to work up the courage to apologize for the things she said all those years ago.

"Grimms I know we were jerks when you fought Drago." she began only to be interrupted by the hunter.

"You think completely abandoning your support for me or being not being in my corner for the fight is being a jerk" he snapped. Griselda flinched back as Grimmel continued. "I know you are trying to apologize but what you did to my psyche during that time was not enjoyable. It's something that I truly haven't recovered from". With a sigh, the former chief resumed his watch, having ended his piece. Griselda inched forward, it seemed that she was on the verge of getting through to her former lover.

"_Just a bit longer._" she thought. "_If I can get through to Grimms then maybe we could reveal our true plan to him_". Griselda approached the former chief once more. "I do have one question though; why are all of the torches out"?

Grimmel brought his attention back to his former colleague and answered. "From what you've told me, the dragon riders attack at night. I hypothesize that they are only able to dodge your weapons due to the light from your ships. If there is no light, they won't be able to dodge what's coming". Griselda took a moment to think about this. Now that Grimmel mentioned his theory everything seemed to line up. Their ships had never been raided during the day when they could see the dragons (especially the Nightfury) coming. On top of that they had at least a little success against the riders on clear nights where they could spot the outlines of dragons in the sky.

"So where do you",

"Shush…" Grimmel quieted her. The man's eyes darted back and forth, looking for the slightest parting in the fog and clouds. His ears twitched as he caught the sound of powerful wings flapping. "_Gotcha_. Griselda prepare a cage; we are about to get one." the man whispered. The warlord looked on as Grimmel stepped behind his launcher. Once again peering at the fog, he saw a faint shadow. Measuring the timing, the man fired his weapon and the net sailed through the night sky with a loud whistle.

**Valka and Eret**

It had been a long time since he heard it, but Eret knew that whistle anywhere and immediately paled. "LOOK OUT!" he yelled, hoping the warning reached Valka's ears in time. However the warning came to late. Cloudjumper let out a roar of pain as black netting encircled his body along with his rider. Valka let out a scream as she and her dragon began plummeting down towards the cold sea below. Skullcrusher immediately dove after them but they weren't going to make it and Eret knew that. He had just enough time and wherewithal to dodge a second net. Valka and Cloudjumper continued to tumble out of the sky, unable to break free and control their descent. The Stormcutter knew that they weren't going to be able to escape in time. So he did the only thing he could do and pulled Valka into his chest as he fell back-first into the freezing ocean.

**Down Below**

Grimmel and Griselda heard a dragon roar in pain and watched as a large figure tumbled through the foggy clouds and crash into the sea about 500 meters away. The two blondes immediately jumped into action. "Everyone port side with a cage at the ready." the woman ordered at her grunts. The men did as they were told as the ship was steered toward the direction of the downed dragon. Grimmel was looking around for Glupsk so he could fly over and check to see if this dragon was the Berkian Nightfury. However, he forgot that Glupsk and his other Deathgrippers were asleep in the stalls below deck and knew that they needed their rest. It was at this moment he saw a red Rumblehorn approach the area where the netted dragon went down.

**Eret POV**

The former trapper raced down on the back of Skullcrusher and reached surface of the ocean, desperately looking for Valka and Cloudjumper. Said dragon broke the surface but was still wrapped in the netting, along with his rider. "Valka we have to get out of here." exclaimed Eret as he tried to cut the netting with his blade. He soon found that this was having no effect and began to panic as a ship pulled closer. It was then he finally took in the scope of the Warlords' fleet. "_There has to be over 50 ships. Enough for all of our dragons_." he panicked. Arrows began flying at him and Skullcrusher as they continued to try and get Valka out.

"NO" she roared out. "Leave me and tell my son what is waiting for us". Eret looked between Valka and the oncoming ship before giving her a nod and taking off. He and Skullcrusher were barely able to escape several nets that came their way before disappearing into the foggy sky.

"I hope you can forgive me chief" Eret said to himself as the duo glided further and further from the fleet.

**Grimmel**

"Damn one got away." Chag growled, having arrived next to Grimmel along with Ragnar.

"It's fine we got one. Maybe we can use it as bait?" Griselda offered, causing Grimmel to let out a smile.

"That is exactly what we are going to do." the former chief replied as the vessel drew closer to the downed dragon.

The men scrambled around the deck and were eventually able to pull the trapped dragon onto the ship with the help of a device Grimmel brought along. The beast landed on the deck with a loud smack and Grimmel saw that there was something else with it. The dragon let out a loud roar in defense, only to be shot by one of Grimmel's darts and knocked unconscious. Using a special blade from one of Glupsk's old stingers, the man cut open the net and saw a woman with brown hair looking defiant at them. Grimmel recognized the woman from when he had invaded the Berkian Chief's home and knew that she must have some level of importance to the village. The question was finding out exactly how important she really was.

"You monsters, how dare you come here." The woman yelled only to be backhanded by Ragnar. Valka collapsed onto the deck and took on the state of her dragon.

"Great going, now we'll have to wait for her to wake up to get information of her." sighed Griselda.

The others let out a soft chuckle but Grimmel remained steadfast and came to a decision. "Alright, I want this dragon quarantined from the others and treated nicely." he ordered.

The grunts immediately obeyed but the Warlords only had looks of confusion on their faces. "Why treat this dragon differently?" Chag asked.

Grimmel let out a soft laugh, "Because, it's health will be able to be used as leverage later". The others immediately understood what the former chief was getting at, after all it was a common negotiating tactic. Ragnar reached to grab the downed woman and drag her off but he was once gain stopped by Grimmel. "You are not harming her. Instead we will place her in the cell next to my quarters so I can keep a close eye on her". The Warlords wanted to disagree but were silenced by Grimmel, telling them that he didn't want anyone messing with his interrogating techniques. As the woman was taken away to her destination, the sky finally began to clear up. "Soon Chief of Berk. Your Nightfury will be mine." Grimmel laughed, knowing it was only a matter of time before his revenge was complete.

* * *

**I know I'm a bit evil, letting Valka get captured but the story needs some more stakes. This will test Hiccup's mind like never before. Hopefully **

**he will be able to rescue his mother. Also Toothless has met up with Luna once more and she has taken him to the Hidden World where Heather **

**is apparently alive. What will happen next? The only way to find out is to read the next chapter. As always; fave, follow, and review. Until next **

**time, Commard out.**


	9. Chapter 8

**Hello Everyone, I am back with another chapter of Destiny is a Fickle Mistress. Last time we saw that Valka and Eret went back to monitor the **

**Warlords' location. However this resulted in Valka and Cloudjumper getting shot down and captured by Grimmel. How will Hiccup react to his **

**mother's capture? There is only one way to find out...**

"Human Speech"

_"Human Thoughts"_

"**Dragon Speech"**

_**"Dragon Thoughts"**_

* * *

Hiccup was getting a little nervous, despite everything positive that happened to his village since dropping in on this new island. They had plenty of wood and fresh water, as well as a nice area to actually have farming for once. In the few days they had been here all of the Vikings had set up shop and felt as if they had been here for generations. To them it was almost as if they never left the old Isle of Berk. Unfortunately, none of these advancements seemed to be on Hiccup's mind. Instead, all of the man's thoughts were directed at the absence of his best friend. It had been nearly a day since Toothless had met up with the Lightfury but the duo hadn't returned. The young chief was pacing back and forth in front of his work station and it didn't go unnoticed by his fellow Vikings.

"Hiccup you need to relax." Fishlegs said, approaching the young man.

"I'm sure he's fine and is just enjoying the time he has with his new girlfriend." Tuffnut joined the conversation, having seen the agony that his chief was going through. "I can tell you that they might be doing what the rest of the village wants you and Astrid to do." the man laughed, causing both the Chief and Astrid to blush from the male twin's insinuation.

"Look Hiccup maybe he just wants to keep the Lightfury away from humans." Fishlegs suggested. "It's probably better for the Lightfury to stay away from Berk".

Hiccup sighed; he knew that Toothless needed time alone, especially after acquiring his new tail-fin. However, there was still reason to worry. The chief didn't know how close Grimmel and the Warlords were to his people and wouldn't know for sure until his mother and Eret returned from their scouting mission. Astrid new that her fiancé's mind would not rest until Toothless was back home next to him.

"Alright babe if he is not here by noon, we will track him down with Stormfly. Is that ok with you?" the blonde asked. Hiccup put his hand to his chin and thought about what Astrid suggested.

"_That might not be a bad idea. Maybe we can learn some more about the Lightfury as well_" he thought before responding. "Alright, you have a deal".

Astrid smiled, she knew that her future husband was extremely stressed out at the moment and she couldn't blame him. After all, they were all being chased by a madman who threatened to kill Hiccup's best friend, as well as take all of their dragons away from Berk. In essence Grimmel was trying to make all of the sacrifices their village had given meaningless. That was something the young woman and the others would not allow. After all, it had been Hiccup who had lost the most to get Berk this far. He had given up his leg to save them from the Red Death and his father had sacrificed himself to save him from Drago. Following their chief to the end was the least the other Vikings could do to atone for Hiccup's losses. The young man only had an hour of peace before he noticed a red silhouette approaching fast. A loud a familiar roar reached his ears. "_Eret's back_" he reasoned as the speck got closer and closer. However, it was soon clear that things were not well with the former hunter. Skullcrusher came crashing down with a tremendous amount of force, leaving dragon and rider in disarray.

"Chief, Chief." Eret called out desperately with a wild look in his eyes. Hiccup and the others raced to the man's side and began to question the former hunter.

"Eret what happened? Are the Warlords following us?" Astrid asked, hoping to the gods that she was wrong.

"It was horrible. We were flying through the fog, nothing in sight." the man began. Eret had took take several seconds to compose himself between sentences as the adrenaline from his flight was still in his system. "We came across a fleet." the man revealed. Every other Berkian gasped but that knowledge paled in comparison to what the former hunter was about to reveal. "It was bigger than anything I've ever seen. Even larger than the fleet Drago had a year ago". The color drained from Hiccup's face. He remembered how large the fleet Drago had brought to the Dragon King's nest but for the Warlords to gather an even larger fleet. It seemed inconceivable.

"Surely you're joking. It couldn't be that big?" Snotlout asked, surprisingly serious about the whole situation.

That was something that had changed about Hiccup's cousin. If something ever came up about protecting Berk the man's attitude would do a complete 180. He had really grown from the immature person he had been when Hiccup first found Toothless. The chief was shaken from his musing as Eret responded to Snotlout's question.

"I wish I was, but the fleet had at least 70 ships." the former hunter answered.

Hiccup finally noticed that his mother had not arrived. "Eret." he called, getting the man's attention. "Where's my mother"?

The older man adopted a sad look on his face. "I'm sorry chief but they got her". The young man's eyes nearly fell into the back of his head. Astrid rushed to his side and caught him before he could collapse onto the ground.

"No not mom please. I just lost dad, please tell me she's alive." he pleaded to no one in particular.

"Cloudjumper and her were shot out of the sky by Grimmel and he captured the two of them. They didn't have any torches lit and we were tricked. She told me to get back here and tell you that they would be about 5 days away by boat." Eret revealed. Hiccup took a deep breath, he knew that Grimmel would avoid hurting his mother so he could use her as a hostage, so her safety wasn't in doubt. He also knew that she would never give away the location of New Berk. They would need to rescue her, but to do that they would need to find Toothless.

"Alright!" he yelled, "I want those who are not involved with farming to help construct a defense system while Astrid and I get Tooothless." he ordered. "Gobber will be in charge of the construction along with Snotlout and the twins". While Eret was having his injuries check by Gothi, the rest of the Vikings scrambled to follow their chief's orders. Astrid was already one step ahead of him and had gotten Stormfly out of her pen.

"Babe we're going to have to hurry and get Toothless if we want to free your mom." his girlfriend said, pulling the Nadder over to her fiancé's workbench.

"Yeah I know, I just hope that he isn't too far away" came the young chief's response but he continued to rattle on. "What if he doesn't want to come back, what if he…" the man was interrupted as Astrid put a finger over his mouth.

"Whatever it is, we'll get through it together." she whispered before kissing his cheek. "Remember Babe, there will always be a Hiccup and Astrid". This seemed to calm Hiccup down, who began looking through the drawers of his bench until he found one of Toothless's scales.

"Here Stormfly, use this", he held to the under the tracker dragon's nose.

The female Nadder got a good whiff of the scale and squawked, meaning that she found the scent. Both Vikings hopped onto the dragon's back and Stormfly took off to the Northwest. It was another clear afternoon but Hiccup didn't know how far the flight was going to take, especially since they were looking for Toothless. Years of riding the Nightfury for so long had blurred the chief's perception of distance and time because they flew so fast. An hour-long flight for Toothless at cruising speed would take nearly two on Stormfly with two riders on her. after two hours of flying the Nadder was getting tired and landed on a small island to get some rest. While this was going on Hiccup worked on getting some lunch for the trio, while Astrid prepared a fire.

"She still has his scent so Toothless isn't in the hands of Grimmel" Astrid tried to comfort her fiancé as he tossed a net into the sea.

"I know Milady" Hiccup let out, pulling in the net, now filled with several large salmon. "But that doesn't mean I can't worry about him".

Astrid could only shake her head at his comment. She knew how stubborn Hiccup could be, especially when it came to the Nightfury. She decided to leave the topic be and enjoy the late lunch with those she loved. After a while, everyone was full at the duo climbed onto Stormfly and found Toothless's scent once more. However, they did not get far before they saw a storm approaching them.

"Babe what do we do?" Astrid asked. She knew how well the dragon could fly through storms, it was how she got her name afterall.

"I say we push forward" he responded. "The storm isn't too large and we seem to be getting closer to Toothless by the look of things".

"**He's right, Toothless's scent is getting much stronger**" the Nadder agreed.

Although neither human could truly understand the dragon, they saw Stormfly perk up and charge head-on into the dark clouds. It didn't take long before Hiccup second guessed himself over the decision to enter the storm. They had only been flying through it for around 10 minutes but things had become much worse. The storm battered the three of them and so much that Hiccup had almost fallen off of Stormfly's back.

"Babe we have to get out of here soon or we won't last." Astrid yelled as the rain pelted her face. Hiccup wanted to refute her but he knew that she was absolutely right in her judgement. Suddenly Stormfly perked up and began diving towards the water. "Girl what are you doing" yelled Astrid, "This is not the time to be chasing…" Astrid was interrupted as she the clouds broke and the sun emerged, shining light to the scene before them. What lay beneath the trio looked like a waterfall. "A waterfall in the middle of the ocean?" Astrid asked aloud. Stormfly went into cruising mode and skimmed along the surface of the water as the group began approaching the drop.

"It's just like my dad's journals said" Hiccup answered, having realized what they were possible entering.

"What do you mean?" his girlfriend asked, curious about the whole situation. The Nadder let out another squawk and banked to fly down the waterfall while Hiccup answered Astrid's question.

"Milady keep your eyes open. I believe we are about to the dragon's Hidden World". All the woman could do was hold on tight and wait for her dragon to stop. The waterfall ended at a giant pool where a cave seemed to be located. Stormfly continued to fly and went into the cave entrance. The Vikings found themselves in an empty stretch of cave, when the Nadder finally tired out and landed. Hiccup and his girlfriend hopped off the dragon and handed her some fish.

"You did great Stormfly." Astrid said while stroking her dragons chin. "Thanks for bringing us all this way".

Hiccup looked around the empty cavern. He could see where the next area started but they would have to wait until Stormfly was rested enough to move on. "_At least we made it this far_." he said to himself, looking around at their current location.

Although there was nothing else here, Hiccup couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. It was then he heard a low whistle, a sound he had heard recently. However, that was the last thing he knew, as he saw what looked like lightning flash above him before slumping into a state of unconsciousness. Astrid could only scream as she saw her fiancé fall to the ground but she had no time to react as a burning flame struck her from above and rendered the woman in the same position.

**Warlords' Flagship**

Valka opened her eyes with a startle. All around her was darkness but her vision slowly adjusted to the dim light. It was at this moment she realized she was in a prison cell. Valka then remembered what happened to cause her current situation. She remembered scouting with Eret before being shot down with Cloudjumper.

"_Cloudjumper!_" she nearly yelled, and tried to get out of the seat she was sitting in to see if her dragon was alright. However, Valka was snapped back to the seat, as she found out that she was chained to it by her hands and feet. Behind her was a cot and outhouse but besides that there was nothing for her. "Great job Valka. Your stuck in jail on the Warlord's ship with no way of knowing where Cloudjumper is." she said aloud. The door outside of her cell opened causing Valka to flinch as light flooded the room. Standing in front of her and outside of her cell alongside with one of his Deathgrippers was Grimmel the Grisly.

"So Berk sends someone all of the way back to scout aye." he chuckled. Valka made no response to this comment, which allowed Grimmel the time to make a connection. "I know you. You were at that toothpick of a chief's house when I burnt Berk to the ground". This taunt got Valka attention and she snapped.

"That toothpick is my son." she yelled back. As soon as the words left her mouth, Valka knew she made a mistake. This feeling was amplified by the fact Grimmel smiled.

"So I have the widow of Stoick the Vast in my mist." he let out. "I wonder if you can tell me where that son of yours is hiding" he whispered. Valka spat at the man's feet as a sign of defiance, but didn't say a word. The former chief let out a hearty laugh. "gods you are a feisty one. The Warlords told me that the dragon of yours is one that terrorized Drago's hunters for a long time." the man revealed, causing his captive to stiffen. "Don't worry, I have no allegiance to Drago and could care less about him". The man used a key to open the door to the cell a took a seat across from Valka about three feet away, while his dragon sat next to him. "So widow of Stoick…".

"Valka" the woman said abruptly.

"Pardon".

"My name is Valka".

"Well Valka, I am hoping that we can sort this misunderstanding out." Grimmel chimed.

"What misunderstanding." she growled. "You burned our home to the ground and nearly killed myself and my son in our own home. How could there possibly be a misunderstanding". Grimmel waited for the woman's tirade to end before calmly stating his case.

"I am not above killing people, but I would have left your entire village alone if your son just gave me his Nightfury." the man retorted.

"We would never turn one of our own over to you." Valka answered, appalled that her captor would even suggest such a thing.

"Ah yes, the old Berkian stubbornness. Do tell, how did that work out for your husband?" he taunted. At the mention of Stoick, Valka lashed about but the chains held her in place.

"He was 10 times the man you will ever be." she spat.

"Touchy subject I guess" the man sighed; he didn't mean to get his captive so upset. Grimmel's usual plan was to charm them into giving him the information he wanted. However, that wouldn't work if his prisoner was angry at him. So the man waited for the captive woman to calm down before resuming his interrogation "Alright so tell me, how did Stoick the Vast go from being one of the most feared dragon killers in the northern sea, to a Nightfury-loving pacifist".

"_There it is again. He only seems to be angry at Nightfurys. Maybe I can get some information out of him_" Valka thought. "My son changed his mind. I don't know the details but it cost Hiccup his leg." she answered. Grimmel knew this wasn't going to help him and his thoughts were interrupted as Valka continued to speak. "Since I gave you some information, I want you answer a question of my own". Grimmel was taken back by this but knew he had to keep the conversation civil if he was going to get anything useful.

"Alright, I'll bite. What is your question?" he responded.

Valka took several seconds to allow herself to formulate how she was going to ask the man but eventually the words came out. "You said before that humans and dragons could never live in peace but you're a hypocrite". This got Grimmel to raise his eyebrow in interest. No one had ever called him that or had talked back to him with such certainty before. "You have three of your own dragons. The species you have is extremely intelligent, surely you see that they are more than mindless beasts." Valka continued.

The former chief let out a very loud laugh, startling his captive who was not expecting such a reaction. "Oh, I know very well that they are not mindless beasts. However, Nightfurys are special as they have the capacity to be extremely malicious and vengeful" the man responded. "So much so that they would burn an entire village just for revenge".

Valka eyes widened at this statement. "_There is no way a Nightfury could be responsible for something as horrific as that_" the woman thought.

"Glupsk here could never do something as horrifying as that on his own." Grimmel added before scratching the Deathigripper's chest. The dragon purred, showing the woman that he indeed has a good relationship with this man and isn't being forced to do anything.

"I don't understand." Valka started. "You clearly have respect for dragons. Why are you working with the Warlord's"? Grimmel stood up and walked towards the side of the cell, thinking about what exactly he was going to say.

"They are offering their resources so I can hunt your son's Nightfury. I kill the beast and they get your dragons. It's a simple business proposition." he explained.

"But you're condemning dragons to a life of hel. How could you be so cruel." his captive protested, only to be silenced by a menacing glare.

"You have no idea what I've been through, so why don't you tell me where your son is so things don't get worse." he hissed. Valka remained defiant and it soon became clear to Grimmel that he wasn't going to get anything out of her tonight. "I will be back. Enjoy your stay my dear." he laughed.

As he was leaving, the man had Glupsk slice Valka's chains so that she could move freely about the cell. Although she didn't show it, Valka was appreciative to this gesture and kept that in the back of her mind. Just before he left the brig, Grimmel came back with a tray of some meat and a jug of water. He calmly placed them on the outside of the cell but close enough to where Valka could get to it if she wanted to. With that, the man silently left the brig and headed to the dining area to meet with the Warlord's.

**Dining Area**

Griselda, Chag, and Ragnar had just started eating when Grimmel joined them at the table. "So Grimmel did you get anything out of the lass?" Ragnar asked. The man who was being asked the question sat down at the table with a loud thump, tired from the day's activities.

"No, I did not. She is very stubborn and will be a tough one to crack for sure." came the man's answer.

"I'm sure I could get her to squeal more than the location of the Nightfury" laughed Ragnar. The statement nearly caused bile to rise in Grimmel's throat. He would not ravish the poor woman who was now their captive. That was why his style of interrogation was more psychological as he would not harm those that are defenseless.

"Any luck on finding out the identity of our prisoner?" Griselda entered the conversation.

Grimmel was about to reveal who the woman was but decided against it. "_I can't risk losing my hand now_." he thought. Even though him and the Warlord's seemed to have made up, the man couldn't risk them holding any power over him. "No I didn't. It's just a random woman from Berk, probably a membner of the chief's council".

"That's too bad, but I know you will get her to reveal Berk's secrets." supported Chag.

Although Grimmel was not above killing (he had certainly showed it when he destroyed Berserk in search of the Lightfury) he couldn't really stand how violent his former friends had gotten. Their time under Drago had definitely changed them for the worse and it became clear from the way they talked about torturing Stoick's widow. Speaking of which, that woman was something else. The only other woman who spoke to him in such a way was the Berserker Chieftess who perished alongside her fiancé trying to protect the Lightfury. The man was stirred from his thoughts by Griselda, who put her hand on his arm.

"Grimms are you okay? You look a little out of it?" the woman asked.

"Yeah I guess that I'm not hungry and it also doesn't help that the gods are hitting us with this storm." answered the former chief.

The other Warlords knew how susceptible Grimmel was to seasickness. Although usually he dealt with it really well, it seemed that the years had taken its toll since they last saw him. After all, unlike the rest of them, the man was from the mainland and never traveled by boat as a child. This was part of the reason why he invested in Glupsk and the other Deathgrippers. Not only were they great hunters but they also provided him with transportation that didn't involve falling ill. After eating as much as he could stomach, the man left the dining table but not before saying goodnight to the others. Flying back to the ship with his quarters, the man couldn't help but think about the prisoner the group had.

He had interacted with Stoick the Vast several times after leaving Drago's services. Grimmel had nothing but respect for the man but he could have sworn that Stoick told him his wife was killed by dragons. It was something the two men bonded over. However, Grimmel didn't reveal that he had dragons of his own, fearing that Stoick. might try to kill them all. The mountain man had also told him of his son who Grimmel could tell was similar to himself at that age. He simply told Stoick to keep knocking on the door and his son would change. That was where they left their relationship, but now Stoick's widow was there prisoner. A woman who Grimmel could understand how the mountain of a man fell for. She was rather beautiful, even in her older age. She also possessed a fire and defiance that Grimmel's own wife Salva had, so long ago. Not liking the way the Warlords had talked about harming her earlier, the former chief made a decision that his father would have been proud of.

"_I have to make sure she doesn't suffer a cruel fate like they are describing. After my interrogation is finished and I slay that wretched Nightfury, I will drop her and her dragon off alone_". Once the man put Glupsk back with the other Deathgrippers, he returned to his quarters. The feeling of fatigue finally got to him and Grimmel realized he had been up for nearly 2 days straight. This on top of the queasy feeling caused by Aegir's wrath finally made the man decide to turn in and get some sleep. Making his way over to his bed, the man changed into his nightwear. However, before he entered sleep's embrace, he bowed his head a swore an oath. "Stoick I swear to the gods above that I will do everything in my power to keep your wife from harm's way". With that Grimmel lit a candle signifying that his oath was taken and fell into his first dreamless sleep in forever.

* * *

**And there we have it. Grimmel begins interrogating Valka while Hiccup and Astrid enter the Hidden World. Grimmel seems to hold a great **

**amount of respect for Stoick and that is why he will protect Valka from the other Warlords. It may be awhile until the next update, so I hope you **

**all enjoy this chapter. If you have any questions please feel free to post them either in the review section or PM. As always; fave, follow, and **

**review. Until next time, Commard out.**


	10. Chapter 9

**Hello everyone,**

**We are back with another chapter of Destiny is a fickle mistress. Things are really starting to heat up as our favorite couple encountered a giant **

**waterfall in the middle of the ocean. They went exploring only to be knocked unconscious. Meanwhile, Grimmel has made a vow to protect Valka **

**from the warlords while he gets information. Only time will tell if he will follow it though. Without further ado, let's get the next chapter started.**

"Human Speech"

_"Human Thoughts"_

**"Dragon Speech"**

_**"Dragon**_** Thoughts"**

* * *

"ASTRID!" Hiccup screamed out, awakening himself from slumber.

He had a horrible dream that he and Astrid had been captured by Grimmel. In the dream Hiccup was made to watch as the man tortured and killed Astrid in front of his eyes before doing the same to him. Looking up he saw that Astrid was OK, although a bit frazzled from being woken by her fiancé's yell.

"Babe I'm fine, are you ok?" she asked concerningly. Hiccup managed to get his breathing under control and nodded.

"Do you have any idea what happened?" he asked looking around their current location.

He and Astrid were on separate stone beds and free to move around in a place that the duo hadn't been in before they lost consciousness. They were situated in what appeared to be a cave with a long hallway leading to what Hiccup could only assume to be the exit.

"It appears we are not prisoners." Hiccup concluded only to be interrupted by Astrid.

"Babe, Stormfly isn't here" the woman exclaimed getting off the bed and panicking.

"I'm sure she's fine. She might have gone out to hunt" the chief suggested, trying his best to calm Astrid down.

"Babe I know your trying to be positive, but we don't even know where we are." came her response.

"I'll tell you where you are." a voice said from the hallway. Hiccup thought that the voice was vaguely familiar but Astrid was taking no chances. She took her axe out and stepped in front of Hiccup to defend him.

"Show yourself coward." Astrid practically yelled as a figure began approaching the duo from the dark hallway.

"Come now Astrid, is that any way to treat your best friend?" the voice asked, as the figured stepped into view. Astrid and Hiccup both let out a loud gasp, while the woman dropped her axe to the ground with a loud CLANG. Standing in front of the duo alive and well, was Heather Berserk.

"Heather?" croaked Astrid, astonished at the scene in front of her. Heather could only nod as a response, in reality she didn't know what to say to the two of them. Astrid rand up and hugged her friend just to make sure she was real.

"We all thought you died." Hiccup said just a shocked as his fiancé was. Heather soothed Astrid and brought her head up to look at Hiccup.

"We almost did" the chieftess whispered sadly. However, she remained positive and continued. "We escaped and ended up here, trapped for all this time." she proclaimed.

"Where is here?" asked Astrid. Hiccup nodded along, as he too wanted to know where they were although he had a theory.

"Follow me and you'll see." came Heather's response. Hiccup got off of the bed and the two Berkians followed the chieftess down the cave towards the exit. After a few minutes of walking, the cave opened into a giant chasm. "My dear friends welcome to the Dragon's Hidden World" Heather proclaimed loudly.

Both Hiccup and Astrid stood astonished at the sight before them. Dragons of all colors, shapes, and sizes could be seen either nesting on mountainous stalagmites/stalactites or flying in the open. "It's incredible" Hiccup breathed out. He couldn't believe it, what Vikings had been searching for since the dawn of existence was in front of him. The chief was shaken from his thoughts when Heather spoke up.

"Do you want to explore a little?" she asked. Astrid and Hiccup could only nod their heads, as they were simply awestruck by the beauty before them. Heather let out a whistle and soon enough Windshear and Stormfly landed on the cave ledge.

"There you are girl, I missed you." said Astrid rushing to her dragon and giving the Nadder a hug.

Hiccup shook free from his shock and asked Heather why the duo was rendered unconscious earlier. Heather could only say that they sensed two newcomers and needed to make sure said newcomers to the Hidden World weren't a threat. Hiccup took the answer at face value but was wondering who the _They_ Heather was referring to. Meanwhile, the chieftess climbed onto to Windshear and waited for the two Berkians to climb onto the back of Stormfly. The two dragons took off and began gliding through the vast caverns that made up the Hidden World.

The dragons seemed to glow from the lighting coming from the roof of the cave which seemed to be some sort of scale covering, something that Hiccup knew he'd have to check out when he'd get the chance. The stalagmite and Stalactites seemed to bed covered in some sort of glowing moss, mesmerizing Hiccup and Astrid. There were also crystals the size houses sprouting from the ground to provide even more room for nests.

Speaking of nests, the group had skimmed above several containing dragon species that Hiccup had never seen before. Their eggs had a clear shell and the Vikings could see the baby dragons developing inside. Hiccup also saw several rivers flowing across the ground where he saw dragons lining up and catching fish that were leaping out of the water.

However, his view was taken off that as the group entered another chasm where there appeared to be a forest of trees that grew next to a giant river. What shocked Hiccup and Astrid was that there appeared to be sunlight coming through the scales on the cave ceiling. The roof of the cavern appeared to look exactly like the regular sky without clouds.

"_That should be impossible_" Hiccup thought. He felt that there was no way that a place like this should be possible. Yet he had seen and done the impossible before so there was really no reason to doubt it.

Astrid and Heather spoke a little bit but Heather had refused to reveal what she had been doing since she had been stuck here. That was another thing that bothered both Astrid and Hiccup. If they could get into the Hidden World, why hadn't Heather come Berk after she had recovered. Both Berkians were awfully suspicious and the next half hour passed in silence as they continued to fly over the forest. The forest then cleared, revealing an open grassy field. In the center of the grassy field was a giant temple.

"Incredible" whispered Hiccup observing the massive marble structure.

"I know right." Heather concurred, "We used to live in one of the chasm alcoves but we recently discovered it and moved here".

This caught Astrid's attention and she pushed forward "You keep saying we. Are you telling us that there is someone else with you besides Windshear"? Hiccup was definitely listening in. He had wanted to ask this question for a while but the opportunity hadn't presented itself until now.

"I knew this would come up eventually." Heather sighed. This made the other two on edge and Hiccup immediately jumped on what she said.

"Heather if you lead us into a trap, so help me Odin would not…" the chief was interrupted as Heather sent him a nasty glare.

"I would never do such a thing to you." she retorted. The trio flew in silence the rest of the way and landed on the outskirts of the temple. Hiccup and Astrid both climbed off the back of the Nadder. Heather had landed behind them so they turned to face away from the temple to address the former chieftess.

"Are you going to tell us what's going on here Heather?" Astrid asked looking rather cross at how her best friend had been leading them on since they woke up. After all, the group had been through so much together. They had fought off Dragon Hunters and helped the woman get her brother back. The least she could do would be to explain what in the name of Thor is going on.

"It was a week from my wedding when my island was attacked by a madman." she started only to be interrupted by Hiccup.

"We know. The same madman went after us and nearly destroyed the entirety of Berk. Luckily we all escaped and fled to a new island." the chief revealed. He was about to add onto his statement when a black blur tackled him from behind.

"Babe are you…" Astrid started to say but halted herself as she saw what the action did to her beloved. Hiccup had no idea what happened until he felt a tongue start licking him. Opening his eyes, he saw his best friend on top of him.

"Hey bud, it's been a while. Where is the Lightfury?" he asked, scratching his best friend's neck. Hiccup missed the feeling of his dragon's smooth scales on his hands and watched as the Nightfury turned his head towards the temple.

"I think it's time we head up." Heather motioned to the marble structure. "Everything will be explained once we get up there".

The three Vikings and their dragons made their way up the steps and reached the large door that separated them from the inside. Heather pushed it opened and went into the temple followed by Windshear. The Berkians waited outside with their dragons, debating on if they should follow their friend or not. Toothless made the decision for them, pushing both humans through the door and into the temple. Looking up, Hiccup saw that the inside of the temple had a large staircase that rose to a center platform. On the ground level were six different doors that seemed to lead to different rooms. As soon as both Vikings regained their bearings a familiar voice reverberated throughout the temple.

"Brother it's been too long" the voice sounded. Hiccup and Astrid looked to see Dagur come running from their left out of one of the doorways.

"Dagur you're alive." Hiccup squeaked. The young man couldn't believe it at first but then realized it wasn't too much of a stretch since Heather had lived.

"That's all you have to say to me? Come here." laughed the Berserker, who then embraced Hiccup in a bone-crushing hug.

"Dagur breath" Hiccup wheezed out.

"Oh, sorry brother." the man replied sheepishly, before releasing the chief.

"It's good to see the both of you" another voice said. Astrid turned to see Mala, alive and healthy walking towards them. "You both are looking well".

"Will someone please tell me why the three of you are here instead of back with Caldera Cay" Astrid practically yelled. The woman was not one for patience and this fact was driving her insane. Mala and the Berserk siblings adopted a somber look, something Astrid had seen time and time again.

"We learned that any dragon can enter the Hidden World but only a Fury can lead others out." Heather explained. As soon as she said that, the Lightfury came bounding over from high above the center staircase.

"Hiccup I'd like to introduce you to Luna, though I'm sure you've already met, as I sent her to warn you about Grimmel." explained Heather.

"That was you?" Astrid asked, surprise clearly on her face.

"Guilty as charged." Heather laughed.

"I don't get it." Hiccup began, "If you had a Fury helping you, you could have left here at any time". Heather looked like she was about to cry but pulled herself together.

"Luna wasn't my friend but my fiancé's." Heather practically cried. This got both Astrid and Hiccup to stop and reflect. Sure, Grimmel had told them that Heather's fiancé had a Nightfury but Luna was a different species, wasn't she?

"I'm sorry Heather. Did your fiancé make it?" Astrid asked, not wanting to upset the Chieftess any more than they had already.

"Frel made it but he's been very ill and hasn't really been able to leave bed often." Heather explained. "But I think it's about time you met him".

With that everyone followed her over to the right side of the temple into one of the rooms. The room they entered was very simple. Like the rest of the temple, the walls were made of marble. However, this room had an actual wooden bed in it, similar to the ones the Vikings had on Berk. On the bed asleep was young man, that Hiccup assumed was Frelser.

He was a rather handsome young man, possessing a full head of light-brown hair and was a little shorter than Hiccup but a bit heavier and muscular. Unfortunately, it seemed that this man had not escaped his encounter with Grimmel as nicely as Heather. His entire torso was wrapped in bandages, as well as his left eye. Luna pushed past the Vikings and rubbed her head against Frelser's and whined. A hazel eye peaked open and saw the dragon's head on his chest.

"Hey girl" he started to say but was interrupted as a coughing attack overcame him.

"Frel wait, slow down." Heather rushed over and picked a wet cloth from the side of the bed. The chieftess dabbed her fiancé's forehead and his coughing soon stopped. Heather slowly helped him sit up in bed so that he didn't hurt himself further.

"Love what's going on?" he asked, still somewhat delirious from his illness.

"Babe remember the chief I told you about, the one who had a male Fury?" she asked Frelser. Astrid let out a soft chuckle as she heard Heather use the term of endearment that she had placed on Hiccup, for her own man.

"Yeah, is he here?" questioned the man, with some desperation in his voice.

"Yes he is." Heather responded, turning her body so that Frelser could see the newcomers. "Allow me to introduce to you, Hiccup Haddock III and his fiancé and my best friend, Astrid Hofferson." Heather proclaimed. Both Berkians walked forward so that they were next to Heather. Frelser offered his hand for a shake and the two of them gladly accepted.

"Hiccup I've heard a lot about you from Heather." said Frelser, shaking the young chief's hand.

"All good things I hope?" Hiccup asked back with a chuckle.

"Good things about both of you and your dragons." the newcomer answered with a chuckle of his own.

"It's finally good to meet the man who stole my best friend's heart." said Astrid. "Your relationship happened so fast, how did the two of you meet"?

"Actually Astrid, that is something we need to talk about" Heather cut in. "I can't explain how we met without having Frel tell you more about Luna and their lives before we met". Both Berkians looked over to the injured man in curiosity.

"_What about his past could be so important?_" Hiccup wondered as Frelser cleared his throat.

"You all might want to pull up a chair. This will be a long story and I already told it once before to Heather and her family." Frel explained. Hiccup and Astrid did as the young man said and pulled chairs next to his bed to listen.

"_Whatever he has to tell us should be really interesting_" thought Astrid. Heather had let the room for several minutes and returned with a large bowl filled with oil and contained a flame inside. The temperature in the room rose as the Berkians could feel the heat coming of the flame. They had been around dragons for a long time and could tell right away that this wasn't a normal flame.

"What is that?" asked Hiccup, looking at object with obvious interest.

"This temple holds many relics" Heather began, before placing the bowl on the table next to Frel's bed. "This one is called the Enternal Flame and was said to be lit by the first Fury". She then took out some powder from a bag and threw it into the bowl. The flame grew in height and changed color from a normal purple to a sky blue. "The flame will show us a picture of what Frel is talking about and allow you to see more of what happened". Hiccup and Astrid both looked on in astonishment at his object. They both couldn't believe something like this existed. The heat of the flame rose even higher causing sweat to build up in Hiccup's brow, but his attention was taken off of that and but on Frelser when the man wheezed softly. Frelser took a pained breath before beginning the tale of his life.

**Warlord Brig**

Grimmel had returned to Valka's cell and brought more food and water with him. He noticed that Valka hadn't touched the meal that he had given her last night and wondered why that was so. "You're not eating?" he asked, pulling the now spoiled food away from the cell. Glupsk snatched up the spoils from the tray with ease before sitting back on his hunches.

"It could be poisoned." Valka said simply.

Grimmel let out a laugh, "Believe me, if I wanted you dead, I wouldn't have to resort to poison".

"Then why didn't you kill us on Berk?" the woman questioned.

"Ah that was quite simple my dear. Your son is an interesting target and he and his Nightfury would make a fine hunt. Killing you all at that time would bring me no thrill" came his response. He then offered the food and water once more when he heard his prisoner's stomach grumble. When Valka still refused Grimmel began to get upset. "Look, you can either take this food and eat it or I could tie you back to the chair and force-feed you." he roared, "your choice".

Valka moved her head back and forth between Grimmel and the food tray several times before deciding that she had to eat. The woman ate in silence as Grimmel sat in his chair and observed her. Eventually she finished her meal and Grimmel resumed talking to her.

"So Valka how was life living with the great Stoick the Vast?" asked the man. This of course was just a simple conversation starter as Grimmel was trying to lower Valka's guard so he could get Berk's location from her.

"Our marriage was lovely until I got scooped up." Valka sighed before taking a drink of water. That information was something Grimmel wanted to explore and jumped on it.

"So how did you survive?" he prodded, genuinely curious about the woman's past.

"Answer me this first." she retorted, "what have you done with my dragon"?

Grimmel let out a small laugh, "your dragon is fine, he is separated from the others but is being well fed". Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Valka continued her story.

"My dragon Cloudjumper stole me away from Berk and took me to a dragon's nest. There I found out that a Bewilderbeast had taken in dragons and cared for them. I learned that dragons were not the monstrous beasts that we painted them to be." she revealed.

"Except for Furys" the man bit out with venom.

Valka could only roll her eyes at this statement and continue her story. "I spent nearly 20 years on that island, helping save dragons from the likes of people like you and Drago". the prisoner was interrupted as Grimmel stood up and slammed his sword against the bars of Valka's cell.

The woman pulled back in fear as the man leaned in a growled, "Don't ever compare me to Drago again. We are nothing alike". Sweat formed on Valka's brow as she didn't mean to cause the man to get angry at her, afraid of what he might do since he held all of the cards in their little game. Having gotten his threat out, Grimmel returned to his seat and allow Valka to continue.

"Then one day a. little over a year ago, my son found me. It was an extreme shock and soon Stoick arrived as well. He had changed as well as the rest of Berk." she whispered.

Grimmel shifted a little closer and waited for the woman to elaborate. "They had. discovered what I did long ago and it only cost my son his leg" she added bitterly. The former chief then learned how the nest of the Bewilderbeast was invaded by Drago, whose own alpha killed the white king. He heard how Drago took control of the Nightfury and killed Stoick, before leaving the Berkians on the island to die.

"_I bet he took control of the Nightfury to taunt me if we ever met again._" Grimmel reasoned as Valka continued her tale.

The woman went on to explain how they used the baby dragons to fly back to Berk and with the help of Toothless killed Drago and defeated his Bewilderbeast. Grimmel knew that Nightfurys had the power of an Alpha, but to defeat something that much larger than itself, it's unheard of. Since Valka finished her story, the man decided to try and catch her off guard.

"It must have taken a long time to rebuild your village. I wonder how long it will take your people to do it this time?" he said aloud.

"You're never going to get me to reveal the location of my new village so give it a rest" Valka retorted.

The man sighed, he thought he had gotten closer to finding out where this _new berk _was located but in reality, he had only learned about his opponent's past. "_At least I can use some of this against the Fishbone if he's ever captured_" Grimmel remained positive.

The former chief sat in his chair and thought of his next move. He decided to give the woman a break and try again at a later time. Without a word the man got up and left the woman to her own devices. Glupsk followed his friend as they went to the deck of the ship. The duo went to the stables, where Grimmel got his other two Deathgrippers. When asked where he was going by the stable keeper, the man told him that he was simply allowing his dragons to stretch their wings. It was the truth after all and besides, he needed some time alone to think.

The weather was beautiful and the seas were rather calm, so the former chief figured that he and his dragons would have plenty of time to be on their own. Not only that, but the fleet was navigating around an island that would take at least two hours before they completely past. The trio of Deathgrippers soared through the skies, enjoying their freedom from the cramped stables of the ships. After a half-hour of flight time Grimmel landed on the island and decided that his dragons needed to practice some of their hunting techniques. After all, he didn't want them to get complacent before one of the biggest hunts of their lives.

Even though the three dragons practiced hard, one of them didn't have their head in the game. Glupsk was thinking back to the prisoner his friend had been interrogating and couldn't get his mind off of her. The dragon was the only other soul in the Brigg with Grimmel and he could see the way the two humans interacted with one another.

"**_Why won't he take the female up as a mate, he clearly has feelings for her_**_._" the Deathgripper wondered.

The dragon knew that both humans had lost their mate and didn't know why they didn't just elope. She was their prisoner yes, but Glupsk didn't see a problem with it after they hunted the Nightfury. All species of dragons were different. Some had males who mated with different females each year while others stuck with one mate for life. Deathgrippers mated with different females every season, so Glupsk thought nothing of Grimmel taking this woman as his mate.

"Glupsk pay attention" Grimmel called out, snapping his friend out of the daze he had been in. "We have to be on the top of our game if we are going to defeat the fishbone".

The dragon shook his head and jumped back into the group's training session. After a few hours passed Grimmel saw that the Warlords' ships had reached the far side of the island. However instead of going past and away from the slice of land, they were coming closer to shore. It was then the former chief noticed why this was so. Farther out at sea loomed heavy dark clouds as far as the man could see.

"Odin, that must be at least five days' worth of storm." the man gasped. It didn't take long for the fleet to reach the shoreline and anchors were soon dropped into the ocean. Chag and the others climbed out of their ship and came over to Grimmel. "I guess we are staying here until the storm passes?" the hunter asked.

"That was our plan, yes." Griselda confirmed.

"According to our oracles, the storm will last around five days so we will be stuck here until the winds change" explained Chag.

"Think about it this way Grimms." Ragnar interrupted with a smile. "You get some more time to try and break in that lass in the Brigg". Chag seemed to agree with his fellow Warlord's statement, while Griselda looked away in embarrassment. Once again, the former chief was rather disgusted with the way his former friends were acting in regards to treating prisoners. He decided that he needed some time to think for himself. After all, it was nearly night and the man wanted to wind down.

"I will be in my lodgings if you need me." Grimmel said before leaving the area with his dragons.

Left all alone the Warlords began to discuss something else. "It seems we will be soon be at the endgame." began Griselda. "You all know the gist of the plan. Once we get the chance, we will be the new Alpha and the dragons. our loyal servants". With that, the trio let out deep (and evil) laughs. Their years of hard work would soon pay off and with the unknowing help of Grimmel, no one would be able to stop them.

* * *

**And with that the chapter is done. Hiccup and Astrid have found the surviving Heather and her fiance and are about to take a look at his **

**memories (prepare for flashback chapters). Meanwhile, we learned a tiny bit more about the Warlord's plan which doesn't seem to spell good **

**news for the dragons. As always; fave follow, and review. Until next time, Commard out.**


	11. Chapter 10

**Hello Everyone,**

**I'm finally back with another chapter of Destiny is a Fickle Mistress. I'm sorry I haven't uploaded in a while but grad school is kicking my teeth in and I've been scrambling just to finish work. I hope you can all forgive me so here is the next chapter.**

"Human Speech"

_"Human Thoughts"_

**"Dragon Speech"**

_**"Dragon Thoughts"**_

* * *

Hiccup and Astrid looked at the Eternal Flame, its heat soothing them as images began to rise from the basin to match the words that were coming out of Frelser's mouth (Visuals will be in bold without quotes). "I don't remember anything about my human parents." the man sighed. He then reached over to the dresser and pulled out a slim locket with a strange symbol on it. "This is all I had with me when I was found by Luna's mother Dawn-Singer. Her mate had just been killed and she saw a chance to fill a void and raise myself along with Luna." he explained showing the object to the Berkians.

Hiccup noticed something and called Frel out. "So how do you know the name of Luna and her mother? Can you understand dragon's?" the chief asked.

Frelser chuckled "Not entirely. But I can get the gist of what they are saying".

"What about. learning to speak Norse?" Astrid asked. "Surely you weren't able to speak on your own".

Frelser sighed as images started to form from the flame. "You're right. Dawn-Singer took Luna and I to a secluded area of the mainland where they cherished dragons. It was these people who taught me how to speak properly". **A young Frelser could be seen interact with people in a village. He seemed to be having conversations with people. who had many different jobs. He also was shown talking with children his own age.** "Here is where I learned how to fight like a true warrior" the man explained. **Images of Frelser clashing swords with a faceless opponent could be seen.**

Hiccup dared to think that he was even better than Astrid, but he would have to put that to the test. I even picked up useful skills such as leather-working and a little bit of blacksmithing." the man revealed, "But I'm not nearly as good as you are from I have been told by Heather and Dagur." he chuckled. "Every year Dawn-Singer took us to meet with her late mate's brother." Frelser continued as the pictures in the Eternal Flame changed. "We would meet up with them for five years but they soon disappeared without a trace". **Frelser could been seen hiding behind Dawn-Singer's legs until she pushed him forward with her snout, introducing him to the other two adults and their child**.

Hiccup noticed something on the other young dragon that struck a chord in his memory. This young Nightfury had five ridges between his eyes that went to the top of his head. Neither of the dragon's parents had this feature. "Hey bud come here a second" the chief called to his dragon. Toothless warbled over but stopped as he saw the image of the young dragon.

"**It's Me**" he whispered, almost speechless from the reveal. He had forgotten all about his former life due to the Red Death but now he at least knew he had a family. "**Nightwing**?"

Luna gasped, getting a better look between the two, she saw that they were indeed the same. "**NIGHTWING**" she cried out joyously before tackling said dragon to the ground. Luna had spent a long time knowing that she would have to mate with a male to keep their species alive. When she met this Nightfury, she knew that he was nice because Heather had told both Frelser and her about him. She had tested him to make sure he was skilled in the air and he passed with flying colors. To think that he was actually her friend Nightwing brought tears to the dragon's eyes.

Toothless watched said tears fall to the ground and concluded that this was the name his parents had given him as a hatchling. Memories of a simpler time before the Red Death came flooding back to the male Fury. He remembered the days he spent playing with Luna and Frelser while their parents talked. He remembered his father teaching him to hunt, and his mother telling him stories. Luna and him rubbed necks as they began reminiscing in their own language about the past while the humans watched on.

"It seems you were right Babe" laughed Astrid who was observing the scene in front of them. "That dragon is Toothless, or rather…" Astrid looked to Frelser for a translation.

"I believe she called him Nightwing." came the man's response.

Dagur decided to enter the conversation. "Talk about a twist." the man chuckled. The others had to agree with him, this was unprecedented. It really seemed like their fates were connected and that they were destined to meet again. The two Furys were overwhelmed with emotion and laid down together on the ground as Heather and the others watched in amusement.

Frelser decided it was time to continue his story. So, with a quick "ahem" he got back to work. "One year when I was about nine, we returned to the meeting spot to find that Nightwing and his family were gone. Dawn-Singer had heard through her underlings that there was a man seeking to kill all Fury's. So we left the village for somewhere safer up. in the mountains." He explained. **The flames showed the boy and two dragons living in a cave in one of the mountains of the mainland**.

"Why didn't you stay in the village?" Hiccup asked. "Surely it would have been safer there with people who were nice to dragons". The tension in the room rose dramatically as a dark look came over Frelser's face. "I don't know how but they eventually found out that Dawn-Singer's and Luna's scales were worth a lot of gold." the man revealed. "We couldn't risk staying with them, as the village would have drawn the attention of the man who was trying to kill all Furys". The two Berkians looked astonished, sure they knew that Toothless's or Nightwing's scales were good for many things, but to think they were actually worth thee amount that Frelser was telling them was a bit excessive.

Hiccup looked at the ground, very disappointed in humanity. "I'm sorry you had to leave the village like that." the chief let out.

Frelser let out a laugh at Hiccup's antics. "They understood why we were leaving and as a way to thank them, we gave them nearly 500 scales." the man revealed.

"Well at least you left on a good note" Astrid replied.

Frelser could only nod to this and continued on. "So we left the village when I was around 12 and continued to travel in isolation looking for other Furys in the hopes of forming a clan". However, sadness could be seen on Frelser's face as he looked to the ground. "Although we never found any, we held onto the belief that there were still some out in the wilderness". The man's head snapped up and stared directly into Hiccup's eyes as the Eternal Flame began to whirl violently in the bowl. The two Berkians gasped and took a step back to avoid the fire that was being sprayed out of the tall pillar of flame. One of these offshoots hit Hiccup in the neck but he felt no pain and looked shocked.

Heather noticed this and explained that although the Eternal Flame gives off heat, people won't be hurt by it. Frelser saw what had happened and deemed it time to use the second function of the flame. "I want the two of you to trust me." he said to the two Berkians. "The only way for you to do so is to experience what I did. Submerge your heads in the flame's oil and witness what caused all of this pain".

Hiccup looked into his girlfriend's eyes as she looked into his own. Together the two of them locked hands and stepped forward so that they were in front of the Eternal Flames basin. Heather reached out to the couple, her hands sweating from the flame. "Trust me Astrid, things will get a lot clearer after you see his memories." the woman explained.

Astrid turned to look her fiancé in the eyes yet again. "On the count of three." she started. "One, two THREE." both Vikings plunged their heads through the flame and into the oil in the basin.

**Memory World**

Seemingly out of nowhere, Astrid and Hiccup landed in what appeared to be a cliffside in one of the mainland mountain ranges. It was a sunny day with a few clouds in the sky. Their attention was immediately drawn to couple of flying figures in the blue sky who landed next to them in silence. It was to Lightfurys. Both Berkians saw that this was Dawn-Singer and a more grown-up Luna. They then saw a person climb off a saddle that was attached to the ladder dragon's back. Said person's face was concealed by a white cowl but their Hazel eyes gave them away and Hiccup and Astrid immediately knew who it was. The person removed their cowl and the Berkians' guess was confirmed as the person was revealed to be Frelser, probably around the age of 15. The younger version seemed a lot happier than the man who lay sick in bed. Frelser was setting up camp while the dragons went off to hunt for food. The Berkians observed the young man wander through the campsite make a fire for when his family arrived with dinner. It didn't take long for the Furys to return with several fish and a strange hoofed animal that they had never seen before.

"Wow Luna you really out did yourself this time" Frelser said, taking the animal from Luna and placing it on the ground. "We haven't had deer in forever". This caught Hiccup's attention, he now knew what this animal was called. The Berkian's watched as the teenager sliced the animal and cleaned it of its fur. "Some more fire would be great mom." Frelser suggested.

Dawn-Singer breathed a few small bursts of flame into the kindling. The wood burst alight and heated the fire up even more. The scene in front of Hiccup and Astrid jumped to a bit later where the trio finished their meal. "That was delicious" Frelser moaned, his stomach bulging from the deer meet.

"**Deer healthy?**" a voice asked, shocking the Berkians, who began looking for the new arrival.

"Yes, you're right Luna it is healthy." Frelser answered asked.

Hiccup gasped, "That was Luna's voice" Astrid nearly yelled, coming to the same conclusion that her fiancé had about the mysterious voice.

"**Frelser happy with home**?" a deeper voice asked, which Astrid and Hiccup could only assume to be Dawn-Singer. This was confirmed when Frelser turned to the mother dragon and answered.

"Mom have many times have I told you." the boy whined, "Home for me is when I'm with you and Luna".

The mother dragon let out a deep rumble and nuzzled the boy with her head. "**Love Son**" she said.

"That's incredible!" Hiccup conversed with his fiancé, "Dragon's do have their own language and the fact that Frelser can understand a decent amount of it is mind-blowing".

"You're absolutely right Babe. Maybe we can get him to Berk and help us in our fight." Astrid suggested.

Hiccup only sighed at this. "If he's feeling okay enough to travel" the chief replied.

The scene before them changed once more. It was a starry night but there was also a large amount of wind in the air. Frelser and his family were on laying down by a fire discussing if they should move as rumors of the hunter were reaching their ears once again. "Mom we'll be fine. After all, the hunter would not expect a pair of Furys to have a human companion." the boy explained.

"**Yeah! Frelser strong**." Luna added. Suddenly they stopped talking, catching the attention of Astrid and Hiccup.

"What do you think is going on?" Astrid asked.

"I don't know but we're about to find out." the chief responded, pointing back to the campfire.

"**Luna DUCK!**" Dawn-Singer roared out. The younger dragon immediately followed her mother's orders and dropped into the ground just as a fire ball came over her head from behind.

"Ah Alpha, we finally meet again." a familiar voice sounded. Hiccup and Astrid both paled as Grimmel stepped out of the darkness followed by one of his Deathgrippers. Dawn-Singer looked at the man with both fear and confusion. She knew that this man was the hunter the other dragons had told her about but there was also a sense of familiarity to him. "14 years ago you took everything from me." the man roared out. "Now I will take everything from you". It finally hit the mother dragon; this was the man who killed her precious Shadow-Wing oh so long ago.

Suddenly a flash flew by her and charged the hunter. The Berkians watched as Grimmel drew his sword and blocked an incoming strike from Frelser who had launched himself at the man. "You won't be taking my mother and sister away from me." the boy growled defiantly. The two humans locked blades, while Grimmel's Deathgrippers went on to attack the two Furys.

"Your mother has wronged me dearly boy." the hunter snarled.

He disengaged from Frelser and swung his sword horizontally at the boy's head. Frelser ducked underneath the swipe and kicked at the man's shin. However this was blocked by Grimmel's other leg and the two resumed sword blows. Meanwhile, the Fury's were fighting a hard battle against the three Deathgrippers. Dawn-Singer had tried to use her Alpha's Call on them but they weren't responding to it.

"_It's like what happened with Toothless earlier_" Hiccup observed from the sideline. It became apparent rather quickly to the Berkians that the Fury's were losing. Luna was clearly outmatched by the more experienced dragons and was barely hanging on, even with the tricks she learned from her mother. Dawn-Singer was having a rather hard time keeping track of both of her children and saw them struggling against their opponents. Her son was giving up ground to the hunter rather quickly and had nearly fallen over a log. The mother dragon knew she had to act fast in order to save her children.

"**Frelser look out.**" she roared, firing a plasma blast towards him. The young man followed his mother's orders which caught Grimmel off guard. The hunter was met with a plasma blast to the chest for his efforts, sending his body flying across the battlefield. Frelser immediately jumped on the opportunity and kicked the sword out of Grimmel's hand. He then pinned the man to the ground with his knee and held his sword to Grimmel's throat.

"You don't have the guts to kill me boy." the man spat. Frelser seemed to hesitate and continued to plant his knee into the man's chest.

"Finish him off" Astrid yelled instinctively. However, she stopped yelling when she remembered that they were viewing a memory.

"Face it boy, you don't have the spine." Grimmel laughed.

Suddenly Luna screamed, "**Frelser down**". The boy looked up and saw a huge fireball heading straight for him. He froze, and was about to be hit by it when a shape knocked him off Grimmel and took the blow for him. Hiccup and Astrid gasped as they saw that it was Dawn-Singer who took the brunt of the fireball. Frelser turned his head and saw his mother singed by the flame.

"Mother are you okay?" asked the boy, his voice shaking in disbelief at what just occurred. Grimmel used this as a distraction and kicked the teenager off of him. The Deathgrippers quickly jumped into action, separating the younger dragon and teenager from their mother.

"**Son go**" the injured dragon wheezed "**Take Luna**". Luna landed behind her brother as her mother engaged the Deathgrippers alone.

"**Us together**?" Luna asked, not really believing what was happening in front of her.

"**Love you,"** Dawn-Singer grunted, sending their foes back towards where Grimmel was reaching his feet. "**Grow Strong, be healthy**". With that the dragon charged forward and attacked the Deathgrippers head on. Luna took the hint and grabbed Frelser in her arms before launching into the night sky.

"MOM NOOO" Frelser yelled in horror as they faded into the distance. With that the memory faded to black and the Berkians were ejected from the Eternal Flame.

**Hidden World Temple**

They were back in the temple, gasping for breath on the ground. Heather immediately rushed over to make sure the two of them were okay. "He took on to Furys like nothing" Hiccup said in shock. Heather made sure the duo was fine before they approached Frelser.

"That was the last time I saw my mother" he revealed, "I can only assume that Grimmel killed her. All because I hesitated and was afraid to take a life". The man gripped the furs on his bed harshly and was barely able to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall.

"It wasn't you fault Frel." Heather whispered as she put her hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "You are a good person no one here would have had the fortitude to kill a defenseless man". Dagur was about to raise his hand and refute that statement but he was elbowed in the chest by Mala.

"What happened next?" Astrid spoke up.

"The two of us traveled west and reached the archipelago." the man explained. "I also was able to sell some of Luna's scales for necessary clothing and furs for shelter. But we made sure we only sold one per town so that it would be harder for Grimmel to track us". He was about to continue when another coughing fit struck. Heather quickly got some water and gave it to him. "Thanks Love." he whispered, before downing the liquid. The man then paused and allowed himself to catch his breath before continuing the story. "However, he still found us". This caused a wave of silence to fall over the room.

Eventually Hiccup spoke up, "How did you two escape"? With a sigh Frelser told them how he and Luna were able to continuously avoid Grimmel by setting up traps around their campsite.

"Eventually Grimmel figured a way around are traps and we were forced to flee even further west".

"Where you eventually ended up with me" Heather laughed and then planted a kiss on her fiancé's cheek. Dagur let out a chuckle watching his sister show affection, but he was quickly silenced by a glare from Mala.

"Yes, Love I did, but before that we were caught in a storm and separated from Grimmel." Frelser revealed. The Eternal Flame roared once more.

"You two need to go back and see this." Mala explained. Both Berkians nodded with confirmation and approached the flame once more. Taking a deep breath, the duo held hands and plunged their heads into the Eternal Flame's oil.

**New Berk**

The Berkians had settled in to their new home rather well, or rather as well as the could with fire-breathing reptiles living with them. Gobber had followed his chief's commands and had supervised the construction of a defense mechanism for the new village. He took the younger generation's idea of using the Night Terrors as sentries and posted several groups of them on the outlying islands. This way they would be able to signal them in case an attack was coming. The cliffs below were rigged with a large number of boulders that could be released on command to destroy boats below. The twins had used their knowledge of pranks to good effect and they were able to teach some of their fellow villagers to work it. Eret had recovered from his injuries and was able to get to work on helping the village prepare for the eventual arrival Warlord Armada. Snotlout was currently helping the village's new armory. The young man had been using his experience in weapon testing to make sure each of them were sorted and in working order.

The man had really grown up in the last year and found his purpose in helping the village. Even though he still had a bit of an ego (as could be seen when he was trying to impress his aunt), the cousin of Hiccup truly was becoming a positive influence on the village. Fishlegs was continuing to maintain the dragons' health and had been helping them get used to the new stalls that had been built. Being the second smartest of the younger generation, the heavyset man was able to help the others come up with a few battle strategies for the worst-case scenario. The four of them had thought long and hard about how Hiccup had always been the one to lead them during troubling times at the Edge. So they figured that it was finally time to repay him by helping the village the best they could. That meant no pranks, foolishness, or egos could come between them and getting the job done. They were all surprised (except for Fishlegs) to find out how much they all could get done when they didn't fool around. It also helped that Eret was there to kepp them on task in case things started to get out of hand. It was nearly dusk when the four Vikings met up with Gobber after the day's activities.

"Gobber we set up the rest of the cliff traps and prepped the flaming arrows." Ruff revealed.

The two-appendage man nodded and moved on to Snotlout. "All of the weaponry is aligned and working. All we have to do next is set up the catapults at key points along the cliffside." he explained."I want you to also set up a watchtower on top of the mountain so that we can get an even better view of the water." added Gobber. Snotlout sighed in annoyance but nodded after he was glared at by the blacksmith. "And Fishlegs", the heavyset stood at attention. "Keep taking care of the dragons".

Gobber was started to walk towards the new Grande Hall when Ruff spoke up. "Gobber they've been gone for three days, what if they don't come back". The rest of the Vikings knew she was talking about their chief and his fiancé and they were worried too.

"Ruffnut I sure they are okay. Hiccup is as smart as they come and Astrid is the best warrior on Berk." the man tried to assure the group. However this didn't seem to pacify them so the man stopped walking. "Look don't you think I am worried about the lad too. I have faith that they will return safe and sound, as well as Valka". The others seemed to nod at this and Gobber continued. "All we can do is make sure that New Berk is prepared for the fight ahead of us. And not if but when Astrid and Hiccup get back they will be thrilled to see the things we were able to accomplish".

The man's tone immediately shifted to one of jubilation. "But for now, we drink" he exclaimed. Everyone cheered and the rest of the Berkians began to file into the newly built Grande Hall, which for now was just a giant tent with tables underneath. Despite the alcohol rushing through his system Gobber was still thinking about what he had said to the younger generation earlier. He did believe his words about Astrid and Hiccup but he was not so sure about the other Haddock. Ever since he learned that Valka was shot down he worried about what the Warlords were going to do to her. They are not known for their mercy after all. He knew he had failed his best friend and could only hope that Stoick would forgive him for whatever horrors that would be thrust upon Valka as a captive. Gobber's thoughts were soon interrupted by the sound of mugs clanging against one another and loud cheers that were being shouted by the other Berkians. The man soon forgot about what he was pondering and instead joined the fray once more. All Gobber could hope for was that he and his people could weather the storm until his chief returned to New Berk.

* * *

**So we found out how Luna and Frelser's mother was killed and how Gobber is doing in Hiccup's place. Next time we will find out how Frelser met Heather and how their relationship began. As always; fave, follow, and review. Until next time, Commard out.**


	12. Chapter 11

**Hello Everyone, it's been so long since I've updated this story and I can't give you any reasons why other than School and Covid. Hopefully I will **

**be able to upload a bit more frequently but with everything going on around us I can't make any promises. Anyway let's get started.**

"Human Speech"

_"Human thoughts"_

**"Dragon Speech"**

_**"Dragon thoughts"**_

* * *

Hiccup and Astrid had returned to the Eternal Flame to view Frelser's memories. They arrived at a small town where the duo immediately noticed Frelser now looking like the man they met recently. He was clad in a green tunic with brown leggings. The man was currently at the town's trading post, haggling with the owner.

"I'll give you 12 kilo's of gold for the scales" the owner offered.

Frelser gave him a offended look. "How about 20?" he countered.

Now it was the owner's turn to look offended. "15 Kilo's and that's my final offer" the owner responded.

Frelser gave the idea a thought before coming to a conclusion. "Throw in a 3 kilo's of Yak meat and we have a deal".

The owner accepted the terms and the duo swapped goods. Frleser took his payment and walked out of the shop. Astrid and Hiccup were teleported to a clearing in the forest where Frelser appeared carrying the meat. "Luna, I'm back." he called out. The humans heard a loud rumbling and Frelser was suddenly tackled to the ground by a flying silhouette. Said silhouette was revealed to be the female Nightfury who was bouncing on her friend in excitement.

"**Food? Food**?" she exclaimed as Frelser warded her off of his chest.

"Yes I brought some food for us." the man explained. Frelser gave the dragon 2.5 kilo's of meat while he cooked the other half kilo for himself. Eventually the food was done and they ate under the stars. "Luna", he said to his sister, causing the dragon to turn her head and face him. "It's been nearly 5 years since mom died". The dragon put her head down in sadness as her brother continued his small speech. "We've both grown so much. I know she would have been proud of us". With that the young man snuggled into his sister's abdomen. The dragon then draped her wings over her brother and they dozed off into blissful sleep.

"They were both deeply affected by her death." hiccup whispered as the scene changed to the next morning. Astrid nodded in response while Frelser and Luna woke up from their slumber.

The started packing up and were prepared to leave the island and head to the next one. The duo had been island-hopping on the eastern side of the archipelago for a while. They had been doing this in order to make sure Grimmel was thrown off their trail. In fact, this was the first town in a while where they actually sold scales for gold. Frelser was reaching into the bag on Luna's saddle when he stopped. Astrid and Hiccup were wondering what he was doing. Their thoughts were interrupted when the young man yelled.

"Go Luna go" Frelser screamed, climbing onto the back of his sister. The Fury took off just in time to avoid several shots of acid from deep in the forest.

"Get back here boy" roared Grimmel who flew into sky on the back of one of his Deathgrippers (Glupsk).

The memory shifted, as the Viking duo followed the chase. Grimmel was hot on Luna's tail and was ordering his dragon to fire at the retreating Fury. Said female spun in the air to avoid the blasts and the chase took them further and further away from the Island. Hiccup and Astrid both noticed that Grimmel was gaining on Frelser.

"That shouldn't be happening right Babe?" Astrid asked, confused over the situation.

"No, it shouldn't." the young man responded.

Furys were the fastest dragons known to man so there was no reasonable way this should have happened. It was then that the duo saw exactly what was causing the current predicament. The were red drops of liquid coming out of Luna's abdomen. She had been hit by one of the blasts and was clearly struggling to carry her brother.

"This isn't good" Astrid said aloud as the Fury continued to dodge blasts.

Hiccup nodded and then looked at the horizon in front of them. "And it's about to get much worse." he whispered, pointing to what he saw.

Astrid looked toward this direction and let out a loud gasp. In the distance, large black clouds covered the entire sky. A storm was brewing and the chase was about to be caught right in the middle of it. Frelser looked down and saw that his sister was injured and the man had to make a quick decision. "Luna we have to fly through the storm. It's the only way." he told the white dragon. Said Fury looked at him with an unsure expression but nodded her head.

"**Trust you**" she whispered, before diving headfirst into the oncoming storm.

Lighting and thunder began to rain from the heavens causing the siblings' purser to have second thoughts. However, the hunter pushed forward despite the obvious danger. It didn't take long for the Deathgrippers' to start to fall behind due to the storm. Grimmel didn't want to lose the track of the Alpha's daughter but he noticed that Glupsk and his other dragons were tiring. So the man found the first island available and got his dragons to the ground. This action shocked Hiccup. He was sure that the Hunter was a demon of a man who didn't care about the health of his dragons. However, this showed the exact opposite of that assumption. Hiccup didn't want to this to change his perception as he was afraid of being bitten in the butt if he tried to reason with him. It would not have been the first time that would have happened.

The young chief's attention was brought back to the situation at hand as his fiancé let out a horrifying scream. He looked up to see a large bolt of lighting strike Luna. The dragon let out a roar of pain as she began to sputter out of control. Frelser screamed out for his sister to remain conscious but he was quickly silenced as the residual lightning entered his body. He and Luna continued to fall out of the sky and there was nothing either of them could do to stop the inevitable from happening. With a giant splash, the crashed into the freezing water below. Luna came back to the surface and struggled to stay afloat as the waves crashed against her body. Frelser was knocked unconscious from the impact and the dragon began fighting to keep him alive. With that, the part of the memory ended and the scene shifted.

"I don't know how they survived a storm like that." Astrid whispered. Hiccup couldn't believe it as well. Not even Stormfly would have been able to do something as crazy as what they just saw.

"It just goes to show you that a dragon's bond can do amazing things." the chief let out as the next scene began to take place.

When the image formed again the duo saw a pair of Seashockers carrying a still unconscious Frelser towards the Island of Berserk. A Thunderdrum in front of them let out roar catching the attention of the islanders at the shoreline. Luna was flying above the dragons making sure that her brother was protected. She shot into the clouds when the Thunderdrum roared, in order to evade the sight of the Berserkers coming to her Brother's aid. The scene then teleported to Heather's point of view. The Berserk Chieftess was inside of her hut looking at plans for the village expansion. Ever since her brother married Mala some of the Defenders had moved onto the island and brought dragons with them. Heather had decided to extend the stables so that the wild dragons could interact with the Berserk ones at will.

"Lady Berserk." a voiced called from outside of her home. The Chieftess looked up and walked outside to meet with one of her advisors.

"What is it?" she asked the woman who had approached her hut. The woman was about to speak when the roar of a Thunderdrum interrupted the two of them. "Something big must be happening." let out Heather, "Come on".

The loud cries of the sea-faring dragon continued to ring throughout the air as the two women raced along the shoreline, followed by several other Berserkers. They pulled up at the ocean and finally saw the dragon that was making the noise. Heather squinted and used her hand to shield her eyes from the glare while peered past the Thunderdrum. It was then she let out a loud gasp and saw that a pair of Seashockers were carrying an unconscious man.

"Quick someone is hurt. We need to get out there." she yelled and jumped into the ocean to meet the dragons. Her fellow Vikings followed her into the braking waves where they reached the reptilian trio and their charge. "Quick get him into the healer's tent" the Chieftess ordered, putting her hands on the young man's body. "_He's as cold as ice_." thought the woman, "_If he doesn't get help soon, he won't make it_". Heather had no second thoughts about helping this person.

If dragons were coming to his aid then he must be a friend to them and therefore would not bring harm to her people. She passed the man's body to one of her warriors, who took off up the shoreline in hopes of getting the newcomer to the healer before he perished. Heather thanked the three Tidal dragons and began walking back to the village. The young lady stopped by Windshear's stable. The Razorwhip had been agitated from the commotion and knew someone had been hurt because of the Thunderdrum's cry. The woman reached out and stroked the dragon's nose.

"Shush girl, it's okay." she whispered, trying to reassure the Razorwhip. After calming said dragon down, Heather left the stables and went to the Healer's hut to meet with the elderly woman. However, as she approached the door the Chieftess was stopped in her tracks by one of her advisors.

"I don't think you want to go in there Heather" the man said. The Chieftess gave her an inquisitive look and responded.

"Why, is something wrong?" she asked, hoping to Odin that the man would live.

"We're not sure." came the response. "Frigga isn't sure whether or not he will survive". Heather looked like she was about to cry. The dragons had entrusted her with the man's life and she knew she couldn't fail.

"Can I at least see him?" the Chieftess asked. The advisor was about to say no when the door opened and Frigga stepped out of her hut. Heather immediately pushed past her advisor and grabbed Frigga's hands in here own. "How is he?" she asked.

"He may not live through this." the woman began.

Heather's face immediately turned into a frown as Frigga went on to explain that the young man had arrived to her hut suffering from extreme Hypothermia. He also was rather malnourished as well so his body was having a harder time fighting than a healthy Viking would. Hiccup and Astrid both flinched at this description and continued to look on as Heather asked Frigga if she could at least stay with the man for the night. Frigga gave her Chieftess a questioning look, as did Astrid and Hiccup.

"Why are you going so far for a man you haven't even talked to once?" Frigga asked.

"I don't know" Heather answered before sighing. "I just feel that it is my duty to help anyway I can after the dragons brought him to us".

Frigga could not deny her leader what she wanted and moved aside so that the woman could enter the hut. Heather nodded in respect and stepped inside where the young man was asleep in bed and covered in a massive amount of fur blankets. Said bed was surrounded by warm coals in the hope that his temperature would be brought up. Heather made her way to the man's bedside. at sat down in the chair next to him. It was the first time she had taken a good long look at the man's face. He had relatively short light-brown hair that had a smooth complexion to it.

"I hope you make it through this" Heather whispered. "I don't want to fail the dragons.

With that the vision faded to black causing Astrid and Hiccup to be ejected from the Eternal Flame. "Whoa" Hiccup let out and began coughing for breath.

"Whoa indeed" Astrid breathed, "How did you survive that"? Both Berkians looked at Frelser who only had a sad expression.

"I was extremely lucky." he answered. However, he continued to explain "But I was never the same".

"What do you mean?" asked Hiccup.

"The hypothermia damaged the nerves in my right hand" the man explained, lifting his hand to show the trembling that was occurring in his fingers. "I've had to train using my left to make up for it".

"You're still plenty strong." Dagur spoke up, "you can relatively hold your own against me which says something".

Frelser let out a chuckle, "Thanks Dag, but it's not the same".

Astrid turned to Heather and spoke up. "How did you to end up getting together?" she asked her friend.

"Funny you should mention that" Dagur said aloud. "They…" he was interrupted as his wife clamped her hand over his mouth.

"Let them find out for themselves" she shushed her husband. Dagur could only nod in response and let the couple resume their memories.

Frelser took another deep breath and concentrated before placing a drop of blood into the flame. "Go ahead" he let out, "my next memory is ready".

Hiccup and Astrid both looked at each other before plunging their heads into the Eternal Flame's oil. The duo returned to the Berserk healer's hut where Frelser was still unconscious. Heather was nowhere to be seen but the healer was there. The prone man began to stir catching the attention of Frigga. The elderly woman immediately raced over to the man.

"Slowly" she said placing her hand on his chest to prevent him from getting up. "You've been unconscious for nearly a week".

Frelser shook his head in confusion. "Where am I?" he asked.

"You are on the island of Berserk" Frigga began. "Our Chieftess found you in the ocean on the back of two dragons and we've kept you here since".

Frelser began panicking, "Where is my sister?" he yelled, trying to get up out of the bed. Frigga tried to prevent him from getting up but Frelser was to adamant and his confused state made him dangerous.

"He's going to hurt Frigga if no one intervenes" Hiccup added from the sidelines. Frelser lunged at Frigga, who dodged and sent the injured man toward the door just as it was opening.

"Hey Frigga has he…" a voice started before Frelser collided directly into the owner of the voice. It was revealed to be Heather who immediately noticed the frazzled look on the man's face. Knowing what to do because of her brother's condition, Heather embraced the man and began squeezing him in a hug. This seemed to make Frelser return to normal.

"You go girl!" Astrid cheered from the sidelines and applauded at her friends quick thinking.

"I see you're up." she chuckled as Frelser looked into her eyes.

"Thank you so much" he let out in a sigh, "I'm sorry healer, would you mind repeating what happened to me?" Frelser asked, sitting back on the bed. Heather explained how she found him on the backs of two Seashockers before asking the man how he ended up in that predicament. "I was traveling with my sister when got trapped in a storm" he lied.

"The dragons didn't bring anyone else with them so we can only assume that she was lost in the storm" Frigga said sadly.

"Then I shall live a full life in her memory." Frelser responded in determination before noticing that his right hand was bandaged down to the wrist. "What happened here?" he asked, motioning to his hand. Frigga then explained that the nerves in his hand were damaged from overexposure to cold water. Frelser removed the bandages and saw the shaking of his fingers. However, he took it in stride once again. "Then I shall learn to fight with my left hand" the man chuckled.

"Oh, you train in combat as well?" Heather smiled, a gleam in her eyes. "What weapon do you use?".

"I use a sword and shield" the man revealed.

Heather then offered the man lodgings with one of her counselors until he decided what to do after he's fully healed. Frelser thanked her and the scene faded to black. The duo's vision returned as they saw Frelser finally released from Frigga's home and watched as he moved into the advisor's hut. It was currently very late at night and they saw that the man snuck out of the hut and dart off towards the forest. Astrid and Hiccup followed and noticed that Frelser had stopped about 3 miles away.

"She has to be around here somewhere" the man began, "I heard her whistle before in bed". Frelser's face adopted another sad look, "unless that was only in my dreams". All three Vikings' attentions were drawn to a loud flapping. "OOOF" Frelser groaned as he was slammed into the ground by a large shape. Immediately the Vikings noticed it was Luna. "Sis you're okay" the young man let out joyously as he began stroking the dragon's soft scales.

"**Missed Brother" **Luna said back as she nuzzled. the young man's face. The two of them enjoyed each other's presence a bit longer before Frelser decided to hatch a gameplan. He informed the dragon about his newfound disability and that he wanted to make sure he was trained enough to survive in case Grimmel found them again. He wanted Luna to stay in this forest for the time being to be safe. Although Berserk seemed to be more open to dragons than other places the siblings had visited, he didn't know them even close to enough to be sure that they wouldn't sell them out for the right price. "**Stay here?**" Luna asked not really wanting to take her brother's advice.

"At least for now." Frelser responded. The young man assured his sister that he would visit her every night while he was recovering. This seemed to ease the Fury's mind who then gave her brother a lick, causing the human to let out a chuckle.

"They truly do seem to look like brother and sister" Hiccup observed.

"Isn't that what you wanted?" Astrid questioned, "For dragons to be seen as more than just beasts, but people".

The young chief sighed and began to think about his relationship in comparison to Frelser and Luna's. "Toothless trusts me with his life just as I do him with mine" Hiccup began. "However, these two grew up with each other since they were children. They have a connection so strong that Frelser can practically understand exactly what Luna is saying". The chief turned to his girlfriend and saw that she was rather taken back by his mini-rant.

"Is that a little jealousy I hear Babe?" Astrid teased, playing with her fiancé.

Hiccup looked as Astrid with soft eyes, "only a little, but I hope that Toothless and I will get to that point someday." he responded.

"I know you will Babe." Astrid laughed before kissing her fiancé's cheek.

The scene in front of them began to change once more. When it settled, they were in a forest again. However, this time they were right outside the village of Berserk. Heather appeared to be training with her axes, slashing against the trees and throwing them at specific targets. The Chieftess stopped these actions as she heard footsteps approaching from the village. Turning around, she saw that Frelser had joined her holding a sword in his left hand and a shield attached to his right arm.

"Are you ready for some training?" the Chieftess asked the newcomer.

"Of course, I think we need to start with sticks to get your agility up". Frelser understood where the woman was coming from.

He was still weak from his accident and really needed to focus in order to use his left hand properly. Heather handed him a wooden sword while she held a wooden axe of her own. The Chieftess had the young man go through several exercises in order to help him get used to his non-dominant hand holding a sword. Hiccup and Astrid watched as the memory showed two days' worth of these exercises before Frelser was finally able to hold the wooden sword with some comfort. The duo began the practice of crossing blades so that Frelser could practice. Now Heather didn't know how good Frelser had been with the blade before his injury but she could tell that the young man was definitely trained. Astrid and Hiccup watched as the duo battled for almost a month as the memory continued to shift. The Berkians saw how the young man and Heather interacted around each other and could tell that they had begun to develop feelings. Heather would show concern and sadness whenever Frelser would bring up his family. The two of them gelled nearly as well as Astrid and Hiccup did and it was quite clear that they were a good match. Frelser had continued to visit Luna every night and had refused to introduce her to Heather despite the fact that Berserk was a dragon-loving village. The young man just didn't want to risk the chance that one of the Vikings would sell them out.

The memory then transported the Berkians to Frelser going down to meet Heather on a beautiful night. They were a bit farther away from the village on a cliff overlooking the sea. What's going on Heather" the young man asked, as he approached the Chieftess. "Why are we meeting out here"?

Heather sighed, turning around to face the newcomer. "Frelser it's been two months since you've arrived here" the woman began. "I wanted you to know that Berserk will support whatever decision you come to in regards to your future". Frelser knew that Heather was referring to the fact that he was debating on whether or not he was going to leave the island and get further away from Grimmel. The young man took a deep breath before speaking his mind.

"Heather" he paused, trying to work up the courage for his next words. "I never properly thanked you for taking me in at my time of need". "You've been a great help getting me back to where I was before my accident." Frelser paused again. "I'm sorry that I've been taking time from you away from your people".

"Don't worry about it. I think that a handsome man like yourself shouldn't be unaccompanied." Heather responded. The young man gasped, hoping that the Chieftess said what he thought she did.

"Did you just call me handsome?" the question squeaked out of his mouth.

Heather had the decency to look ashamed that Frelser caught her. "I think you are quite cute and would like to get to know you better." the woman explained, finally revealing what she had been feeling ever since she first laid eyes on the man. Frelser took his time answering Heather's question. He made sure that the Viking across from him shook in anticipation and was waiting on bated breath when he finally gave his answer.

"I would also like to get to know you better." he said softly. The neutral expression on the Beserkian's face turned into a large smile and she ran forward and hugged Frelser. The man nearly fell to the ground but returned the hug. With that, the scene started fading to black, leaving the Berkian duo to talk amongst themselves.

"So that's how they started to become a couple." Astrid said aloud.

"It definitely went much smoother than our first meeting Milady." Hiccup laughed, as he reminisced about the time she discovered him and Toothless at the cove years ago.

"Your right about that Babe" Astrid returned the favor, giving her fiancé a small punch on the shoulder.

"I do wonder about one thing." Hiccup began, causing Astrid to look at her future husband. "I wonder how Frelser reacted to meeting Dagur for the first time".

The scene began to shift and the duo were teleported back to Heather's training ground where she was currently engaged in a spar with Frelser. It had been a month since the last vision and Frelser had now become much more experienced in handling a blade in his left hand. This was evident due to the fact that he was actually winning against the Chieftess and eventually disarmed her. The fighting pair came to a breather as Frelser helped Heather up off the ground.

"That was a great session" the woman said as she stood up. "You are better than I thought you could be Frel". Hiccup and Astrid both noticed that Heather had started using her nickname for the young man which clearly showed that their relationship had progressed.

"Well, I only have you to thank my dear" Frelser laughed before planting a kiss on the woman's cheek.

"You're going to have to cut that out when my brother gets here" she laughed.

"I only hope I can impress him enough so that I can date you my love." the man responded. Suddenly a loud horn rang through the air, catching the duo's attention.

"That's him" Heather said with a wink, "let's not keep the man waiting". With that the young pair ran back towards the village and the scene faded to black.

* * *

**So we now found out how Frelser and Heather met as well as the young man's miraculous escape from Grimmel. Their blossoming romance will **

**soon be put to the test when Dagur arrives in the next chapter. As always; fave follow, and review. Make sure to stay safe, Commard out.**


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